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An Orangeburg County woman took the stand Tuesday during a murder trial to recall the night she was shot in the face while her cousin lay dead on a nightclub floor.
"I heard a shot and I saw Matt fall, and I seen all the blood coming from him," said Monique Green. "And I heard a pop, and I seen Andrae King walk over, and all I heard was a 'click, click.' I just laid over on the floor."
The 27-year-old Green was reliving the event described by police as a lover's quarrel that exploded into murder in July 2005 at the Touch of Class nightclub in Eutawville.
Green suffered a gunshot wound to the cheek while her cousin, 20-year-old Matthew Jenkins, was killed after he was shot once in the forehead.
Dressed in a black suit and white shirt on Tuesday, Andrae James King, 31, of Santee, is on trial charged with murder in Jenkins' death. The Bass Drive man, known to his friends as "Crab," is also charged with assault and battery with intent to kill and possession of a firearm during the commission of a crime.
Green told jurors she and King had been seeing one another for about four years prior to their breakup in mid-2005.
That relationship, Green said, ended just days before the shooting. However, despite that fact, Green entered King's nightclub, located about a mile-and-a-half southwest of Eutawville, and a dispute ignited.
After being shot, Green was carried outside of the club and placed on the ground to lean against a car in the parking lot.
"And there was a guy there, I don't know who, and I said, 'Where's Matt?'" Green said. "And they said, 'It's too late.'"
"Let me stop you right there," said First Assistant Solicitor Bryan Jeffries. "Don't tell me what somebody else said. Did you later find out later what happened?"
"Yes, sir," Green said, her voice breaking with emotion. "He died."
Airlifted to the Medical University of South Carolina in Charleston, Green suffered a gunshot wound to the left cheek.
"Where did the bullet hit you?" Jeffries said.
"Right here. And it came out right here," Green said, point to the back of her neck.
"And you still have a scar?"
"Yes, sir."
Also on Tuesday, jurors heard from Laquyin Casey, who prosecutors subpoenaed to tell her side of the story. The Ft. Myers, Fla. woman was residing with King the night of the shootings.
Under oath, Casey admitted she didn't want to te.jpgy against the Santee man and that she'd traveled 16 hours by bus only after being subpoenaed.
But, per her testimony, she was the last person to see King before he left at around 11:30 p.m. for the nightclub.
"What did he take with him," Jeffries said.
"A bottle of gin," Casey said.
"What else?"
"His gun."
"What kind of gun?"
"A 9 millimeter."
The former South Carolina resident said she didn't hear from King for about two hours when he called the Summerville hotel room they were sharing. Casey said that about 3 a.m., King showed up banging on the door, stating they had to leave.
As the pair left in King's vehicle, police cruisers approached. King pulled out a gun, Casey said.
"He said he wasn't going to jail," Casey said.
"What did he say he was going to do?" Jeffries said.
"He said he was going to kill them."
"He was going to kill the police?"
"Yeah."
A high-speed chase ensued, with the vehicle Casey was traveling in reaching speeds of between 95 and 100 mph, she said. The vehicle was stopped, Casey te.jpgied, only after police set up spike strips and rammed their vehicle off the road.
Jeffries moved questioning back to earlier in the evening, when King and Casey were talking prior to King's departure for the club.
"And did he say anything about Monique?" Jeffries asked.
"Yeah, he said she played him and she had to die," Casey said.
"Who said Monique Green has to die?"
"Crab."
Prosecutors are expected to resume their case today when court reconvenes.
T&D Staff Writer Richard Walker can be reached by e-mail at rwalker@timesanddemocrat.com or by telephone at 803-533-5516. Discuss this and other stories on-line at TheTandD.com.