A 10-year-old boy described in Lucas County Common Pleas Court the moment almost two years ago when occupants of a car that had pulled alongside his uncle’s SUV on Collingwood Boulevard lowered windows and began shooting.
Xavier Ezell, who was 8 at the time, said on the witness stand he didn’t get a good look at the shooters as he quickly ducked behind a coat and backpack to try to shield himself, but he recognized the car as a black Dodge Charger he had seen a short time before in the parking lot at a central Toledo apartment complex where his aunt lives, and he and his sister, Da’Mia, had spent the previous night.
Xavier wasn’t hit by the gunfire, but his 10-year-old sister was killed by a single bullet that pierced her aorta, and his uncle, Kenneth White, 24, survived being shot 11 times in the incident on Collingwood near Delaware Avenue the early afternoon of Feb. 12, 2022.
The boy’s testimony was part of the first day of a jury trial for Dearryl Cornelious, 21, who is charged in the case with aggravated murder, murder, two counts of felonious assault, firing on or near prohibited premises, and participating in a criminal gang.