The murder trial of Demarcus Flowers began Monday with prosecutors arguing that Flowers ordered a hit on Brundidge man Xavier Thomas in 2017, leading to his shooting death.

The defense argued that witnesses did not initially point to Flowers having any involvement in the crime and that police had tried to connect him to the case.

Flowers is the second person to stand trial for the murder, with shooter Jacory Townsend convicted and sentenced to life in prison in November 2018.

A third suspect charged with murder, Tige Townsend, was expected by the prosecution to testify against Flowers. Instead, Tige Townsend told Judge Clark that he had lied about Flowers involvement in the murder.

Townsend had entered a plea agreement with the District Attorney’s Office to a 20-year split-sentence, of which he would serve five years, in exchange for his testimony.

Thomas was fatally shot multiple times on May 26, 2017, while sitting in his parked car at Walding Circle in Brundidge near the senior center.

The defense said that Tige Townsend drove up to the parking lot and Jacory Townsend exited the passenger seat and fired multiple shots into Thomas’ vehicle before fleeing the scene in the vehicle driven by Tige Townsend.

The defense argued that two other occupants in the Townsend’s car, who have not been charged in connection to the case, did not implicate Flowers in the crime. The defense also called into question a 94-page statement from the girlfriend of Flowers, which they said had no indication of how long the questioning took place. And the woman only conceded that Flowers may have left a room they were in at the Boll Weevil Inn in Enterprise while she was sleeping, the defense said.

The deposition of arrest for Flowers refers to Flowers, not Tige Townsend, as the driver of the vehicle that brought Jacory Townsend to and from the scene of the crime.

According to the defense, Flowers and his grandmother and other family were the victims of an armed robbery shortly before the murder, with about $10,000 being stolen as well as marijuana. Prosecutors have referred to a “meeting under a tree” that occurred prior to the murder, where Flowers met Tige and Jacory Townsend and others to discuss murdering Thomas.

The murder trial continues today at the Pike County Courthouse. Murder is a Class A Felony punishable by 20 years to life in prison.