A high-ranking New Jersey State Police trooper testified Wednesday that no fingerprints of accused killer William Mitchell were found inside the vehicle that was allegedly used in the 2012 drive-by shooting that killed 23-year-old Daquan Dowling.
When questioned under cross-examination on whether any of Mitchell’s fingerprints were found inside the stolen black Chrysler Sebring, Lt. Michael McCormick said, “No, sir.”
Mitchell, 29, is one of the five people to be indicted in connection with the slaying of Dowling. Another defendant in the case, Andre Romero, 25, was found not guilty last October of all charges.
Co-defendant Anthony Marks, 28, pleaded guilty to unlawful possession of a handgun in 2015; co-defendant Jamar Square, 24, pleaded guilty to unlawful possession of a handgun in 2013; and co-defendant Louis Alvardo, 26, pleaded guilty to receiving stolen property in 2014.
Mitchell is being retried on murder charges and weapons offenses because his initial trial last year ended in a hung jury. In that initial trial, Marks and Square testified as cooperating witnesses against Mitchell and Romero.
William "Bill Bill" Mitchell
Marks and Square have not yet been sentenced for their guilt in the case, while Alvardo received a four-year prison sentence for admitting he had received the stolen Chrysler Sebring that was later connected to the drive-by shooting.
In his testimony on Wednesday, McCormick said police found Alvardo’s fingerprints on the trunk area of the Chrysler.
Dowling was driving a white Ford Taurus on Route 29 northbound near the War Memorial in Trenton when perpetrators drove alongside him and fired a shot that struck him in the head, killing him instantly on Jan. 30, 2012. The crime scene was so large that police had to take aerial photos from a helicopter.
Mitchell’s murder retrial is scheduled to resume Thursday before Mercer County Superior Court Judge Anthony Massi.