KINGWOOD – Aaron Hoard and his is fiance, Machaela Jeffries, were the last two witnesses called to testify for the defense Friday. Final arguments are scheduled for Monday, and then the case will go to the jury.
Hoard is accused of first-degree murder in the November 2019 shooting death of Grant William Felton Jr., of Terra Alta, outside Shorthorn’s Saloon.
Hoard testified on the night of the alleged murder he and his friends went to Shorthorns to celebrate their friend Nathan Lantham’s birthday. He said they were joined by Brian Teets and his girlfriend Christina Andrews.
“We were over near the band stand. The band had quit and they were playing other music,” Hoard said. He said a girl had come up and was annoying Andrews so he went over and got between them and was dancing around to alleviate the situation.
“I was lifted up from behind. First I thought it was Brian or someone,” he said. “It was sudden and I was confused. I asked – Whoa, what’s going on? And he (the man who lifted him up) said ‘you got to go.’ He didn’t tell me why.”
Hoard said Machaela was behind him and moved up beside him. He said when they went through the double doors she was in front of him and they went outside.
“I was confused when we got kicked out of the bar. Then I saw them put Nathan out. They didn’t give a reason,” Hoard said. “We (Hoard, Jeffries and Lantham) got in the truck. We didn’t talk about what happened much. Five minutes later, Brian and Christina came and got in the truck. We laughed about getting kicked out. That’s when Brian said he forgot his hat and vest and Christina said she forgot her phone.”
He said they drove up and parked in the road in front of Shorthorns and he and Teets went to find Teets’ hat.
“I thought I could walk off casually and see if I could find the things. I’m not having words with anyone. I went into the bar and didn’t quite get to the dance floor or where he (Brian) left his stuff,” Hoard said.
He said at that point D. J. Wilt told him he wasn’t supposed to be in the bar. He said Wilt asked him to go. Hoard said he went outside and “didn’t engage in screaming or yelling” at anyone.
“I was blindsided when he (Felton) put his hands on my throat and shoulder,” Hoard said. Felton took him across the road to the truck.
He said when they got to the door of the truck he was grabbed by the throat and pushed down. Hoard said there was 5 to 10 seconds he can’t remember.
“He (Felton) was starting to choke me out. There was a scuffle around me. I saw Machaela and then when I looked over again she was not there. I had a feeling she was pulled out of the vehicle and made a decision to get my gun and shoot in the air.”
He said he retrieved the gun from a bag he carried business papers in.
“I chambered a bullet. I was in the seat (passenger seat of the truck). I made sure the gun was not pointed at anyone. I had no intent to point it at anyone,” Hoard said. “ I stepped on the running board and made sure the gun was above the roof line and no one was in the way. I shot roughly 4 times in the air and then I got tackled. Someone hit me and I was on the floorboard of the truck with a man on top of me. I never thought that if I shot in the air someone would tackle me.”
He said he tried to get the gun back and pull it up toward the ceiling and someone pulled it back down.
“I could have shot the man that was on me but I made sure I didn’t do that. I didn’t intend for anyone to be shot or injured,” Hoard said.
He said he remembered the gun being pulled down twice. He said he knew shots went down to his left and to his right. He said he knew the guy over him didn’t get hurt. Hoard said the second time the gun was pulled down someone took it out of his hands. He said he pulled his legs up to his chest and kicked the man who was on top of him. Hoard said when he and Jeffries drove away he didn’t know anyone had been hurt.
Jeffries said she was terrified. She said after Felton brought Hoard across the street and Hoard turned his back to get into the vehicle, Felton pushed him down in the seat and had his hands around his (Hoard’s) throat.
“I put my hands up to Grant and was saying stop, stop. He reached out and grabbed my face and arm and pulled me out of the truck and threw me back to the back tire,” Jeffries said. “I busted my chin and scraped my face. I went into a fetal position and I heard shots. Someone pulled me up and I went back and got into the truck. Aaron was on the floorboard and I was partially in the driver’s seat.”
She said while Hoard was on the floor there were multiple people leaning inside truck. Jeffries said hoard had the firearm pointed up in the air and they had their hands on it pulling on it.
“He was fighting to keep it up and it was going off.” she said. “I remember at one point it was near my head. Someone pulled the gun from his hand and he said ‘go, get out of here.’ I crawled in the driver’s seat and pulled away. I didn’t know anyone had been shot. When I got in the truck he had no control over the gun people were pulling at it. I was t terrified and scared.”
Jeffries testified when she reached home she took her son and went to stay the night with her mother in Pennsylvania. She said the next morning Hoard called her and asked her to come back home so she did. She said she and her baby stayed the next night at a friend’s house. She said when she returned home Monday the house had been searched and the truck was gone.
Both Jeffries and Hoard said they turned their social media off after his attorney Belinda Haynie told them they should take their Facebook pages down. Hoard said he turned himself in Monday on the advice of his attorney.
Both Hoard and Jeffries said they were unaware of Felton’s death until they saw it on the news the next day.
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