Teen testifies against other defendants in Hall deputy's 2019 murder
HALL COUNTY, Ga. - One of the teens charged in the 2019 murder of a Hall County Sheriff's deputy testified against his friends Thursday afternoon.
Bryan Cruz is being tried separately in the death of Deputy Nicolas Blane Dixon.
"You've been charged with basically being part of a criminal conspiracy with three other people, is that right?" Hall County prosecutors asked Cruz.
"Yes, sir," Cruz responded.
Prosecutors charged Cruz, London Clements, Hector Garcia-Solis and Eric Velasquez with murder in Deputy Dixon's death.
Garcia-Solis and Velasquez are also accused of committing several business burglaries the night before and stealing about 30 firearms.
RELATED: Georgia mourns Hall County deputy killed in the line of duty
Cruz said he was not a part of those break-ins, but admitted on the stand that he learned about them the next day and met up with his three friends to try to commit more crimes the next day.
Cruz said they had just gotten on the road when a deputy tried to pull them over. The teens sped away and tried to lose the officer.
"I was panicking. I was telling them to pull over," Cruz testified.
Instead, he said they crashed into a pole and ran from the scene. Cruz said Deputy Dixon chased after them. Cruz said he hid in someone's shed and heard the gunshots that killed Dixon.
The trial is scheduled to resume Friday.
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