GRAND RAPIDS – The key witness in the cold case murder investigation admits he has lied under oath in the past, but facing life in prison on a perjury charge, he says he is telling the truth now.
Louie Howard said he was in the van with Andrew Ramon Scott when they pulled up next to the van driven by Tahari Braggs along Alexander Street SE on May 11, 2004.
The pair had a beef with 26-year-old Braggs who they believed beat up Howard's girlfriend.
“(Scott) shot him,” 30-year-old Howard said at a probable cause hearing today in Grand Rapids District Court. “I asked the defendant what happened, what did you do? And he said '(Braggs) had to go.'”
Howard said before the shooting, the pair had been smoking marijuana and cruising around in their van. Both were armed with Scott carrying a .38-caliber handgun while Howard had a .44-caliber.
A forensic pathologist said that the bullet that killed Braggs was likely a .38 caliber.
After the shooting, Howard said the pair were in a panic and hid out for almost two weeks at a woman's apartment.
Not long after the shooting, police asked Howard about the shooting and he told police he had nothing to do with it and knew nothing about it.
Today, Howard admitted to lying to police and investigators and agreed with Assistant Kent County Prosecutor Kellee Koncki that in exchange for his testimony, he had been promised that he would get no more than a year behind bars.
Defense attorney Christine Tober dwelled on the numerous changes in Howard's story during her cross-examination.
As Howard testified, Scott stared at his fellow Kent County Jail inmate with an unhappy look on his face.
Judge Jeanine LaVille also heard from John Johnson who said that Scott had admitted to the shooting.
LaVille found there was enough evidence to send the case for felony charges of open murder and firearm violations to Kent County Circuit Court.
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