The sketch depicts a man witnesses said was holding a shotgun, running from a Phillipsburg gas station.
Two men were seen running from the gas station after a gunshot was heard. One of them was holding a shotgun.
But was it Andy Torres?
Phillipsburg police on Jan. 5, 2012, released this composite sketch of a suspect in the shooting of a clerk early that morning at a BP gas station in the 700 block of South Main Street in Phillipsburg. (Courtesy Phillipsburg police)The 26-year-old from Allentown is charged with murder, robbery and related counts in the 2012 fatal shooting of a gas station attendant in Phillipsburg.
The trial entered its second day of testimony Tuesday in state Superior Court in Belvidere with witnesses called by Warren County First Assistant Prosecutor Michael McDonald.
Torres, along with co-defendants Zachary and Alexis Flowers and David Beagell, allegedly developed a plan to rob the BP station on South Main Street. The 47-year-old attendant Kismathdas Kasam was fatally shot in the right thigh with a shotgun blast. Torres is accused of pulling the trigger.
Sandra Cresler, who lives near the station, helped authorities develop a sketch of a suspect that was publicly released shortly after the shooting.
Cresler on Tuesday testified she heard the gunshot around midnight that night as she was getting ready for bed. She went outside where her boyfriend, William Flanagan, was smoking a cigarette on their porch.
MORE: Witnesses recall hearing fatal gunshot
Flanagan, who testified Monday, pushed her up against the wall and told her to be quiet as two men ran past their Limekiln Street home.
"We were quiet," Cresler said. "They were very close."
From the few seconds she had to see them, she described them in her testimony as two white men of average height and build. Pennsylvania State Police helped develop the sketch.
Torres' attorney, Michael Priarone, brought up the official report of Cresler's statements to police, specifically that the person with "stringy, blond hair" in the sketch "bore a strong resemblance" to the person she saw holding the shotgun.
Cresler said she may have confused the two.
Priarone brought up similar statements from Flanagan on Monday. In his opening statement, he said Torres was mixed up with a bad crowd but it was one of the others that fatally shot Kasam.
RELATED: Trial may hinge on co-defendants' testimony
The four people charged in connection with a fatal shooting Jan. 5, 2012, in Phillipsburg are, from left, Andrew Torres, Zachary Flowers, David Beagell and Alexis Flowers. (File photos)Alexis Flowers and Beagell are to eventually testify against Torres under 2012 plea agreements to lesser charges. Zachary Flowers was also to testify, but his plea was revoked this month when he refused.
Also called as a witness Tuesday morning was Jacquelyn Fucili of the Phillipsburg Emergency Squad, who helped transport Kasam to the hospital that night.
Kasam was semi-conscious when she arrived that night, Fucili said, but stopped breathing and lost his pulse as they waited for a helicopter. As his condition worsened, they brought him to the hospital in Phillipsburg.
Kasam was pronounced dead two days later.
The testimony later turned to the investigation when McDonald called Detective Teddy Garcia from the Warren County Prosecutor's Office. Testimony will continue Tuesday afternoon.
Between 30 and 40 witnesses are expected to be called as the trial proceeds over about a month.
Steve Novak may be reached at snovak@lehighvalleylive.com. Follow him on Twitter @type2supernovak. Find lehighvalleylive.com on Facebook.