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Omaha man acquitted in murder trial after reluctant witnesses change stories

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It was a tough murder case, made tougher by the fact that the witnesses at the shooting scene were less candid on the stand than they had been with police.

With less descriptive testimony — and no discovery of a murder weapon — a Douglas County jury deliberated eight hours Tuesday and Wednesday before acquitting Prentis Reddick of second-degree murder in the cousin-to-the-rescue, two-men-flexing, standoff death of Loyal Brown, 30, on Nov. 15, 2020.

Reddick

The acquittal means Reddick is cleared in Brown’s death, but it doesn’t mean he’s out of the woods. Prosecutors are reviewing whether Reddick — who was among 28 gang members convicted of federal gun charges in a 2015 sweep — violated a federal law that prohibits felons from possessing ammunition. An Omaha police search of Reddick’s bedroom found several 9 mm bullets and two spent casings after the shooting.

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When it comes to Brown’s death, prosecutors had accused Reddick, 33, of shooting Brown after coming to the aid of cousin Shaquia Pettiford, Brown’s girlfriend. Brown had become belligerent and had kicked down the front door of Pettiford’s mother’s home, near 39th and Grant Streets.

Brown had been in a tumultuous relationship with Pettiford for five years. At one point, Brown had broken every window in Pettiford’s home, an Omaha detective testified.

That night, he had threatened to break Pettiford’s jaw and had kicked down the door of mother Thea Pettiford’s home. He began arguing with Thea Pettiford, who then started calling her daughter. Shaquia Pettiford drove to pick up Reddick, who was known to be able to calm Brown, and headed to her mother’s home.

Reddick arrived and got Brown to go outside, along with Shaquia Pettiford. The three stood outside, Reddick and Brown arguing. Within a half hour, Brown was dead.

Immediately after the killing, Shaquia Pettiford told police that she heard the confrontation between Brown and Reddick. She claimed she didn’t see a gun in Reddick’s hand but described Brown saying, “If you’re gonna pop me, bro, then just do it, blood.” She said she walked away to take a phone call when she heard a gunshot.

But come Reddick’s second-degree murder trial over the past week, Shaquia Pettiford said she didn’t hear either man say anything — let alone hear her boyfriend challenge her cousin. She also claimed she didn’t see Reddick shoot anyone. Shaquia Pettiford said she was on the phone with someone when she heard a single gunshot. She then saw Brown on the ground, bleeding, and started performing CPR.

Prosecutors Ann Miller and Dara Delehant told jurors that Reddick was the shooter. They pointed out that he had blood spatter on his clothing — and tests revealed those blood spots matched Brown’s DNA. They questioned how likely it was that a random gunman just happened to be passing by at 3 a.m. and fired at Brown, killing him. And how likely, they asked, was it that Reddick would respond to a purportedly random shooting of Brown by fleeing the scene?

But prosecutors had to deal with another hurdle: They couldn’t find the gun used in the shooting.

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Shaquia Pettiford, her sister and her mother had told police that Reddick had walked into Adams Park near 30th Street and Bedford Avenue after the shooting.

However, multiple police searches of the park, the lagoon and the tall weeds at the lagoon’s edge turned up no weapon. Miller said such an outcome is hardly rare: A detective estimated that police do not find the murder weapon in 70% of homicide cases.

Reddick’s attorney, Mary Dvorak, noted that not only did police not find the weapon; none of the Pettiford women placed a gun in Reddick’s hands. Dvorak and fellow assistant public defender Travis Wampler told jurors that prosecutors are relying on jurors to fill in blanks that the investigation didn’t turn up.

Miller had pointed out that Reddick fled the scene, then returned after police arrived. Miller alleged it was because he wanted to see whether the shot he fired had actually killed Brown. Officers’ body-cam footage showed him asking if he could go check the house.

Within hours, police had Reddick in custody. Miller suggested Reddick was evasive with law enforcement and noted that he didn’t even ask lead detective Ryan Hinsley who was killed. Miller said there was a reason he didn’t ask: He knew.

But Dvorak noted that not one of the Pettifords described Reddick shooting Brown.

“In a situation where everyone lied to law enforcement, you can’t draw any conclusions that untruthfulness equals guilt,” Dvorak told jurors. “This is not a process of elimination. Mr. Reddick cannot be found guilty of murder by default.”

Shaquia Pettiford, 27, and Thea Pettiford, 47, each were charged with being accessories to Reddick. Judge Michael Coffey placed Shaquia on a year of probation. Thea Pettiford’s case is pending.

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