Adrian, MI – The Chris Dickerson murder trial has been taking place in Lenawee County Circuit Court for nine days. Co-defendants Count Tereso the Almighty Trevino and Andrew Cecil have both been charged with multiple felonies in relation to the killing of Dickerson.
There have been days of testimony and cross-examination in the courtroom of Judge Michael Olsaver… including local law enforcement, Dickerson’s mother, incarcerated people, and a Special Agent with the United States Department of Homeland Security.
‘The People’ are represented by the Lenawee County Prosecutor Jaqueline Wise and Assistant Prosecutor Douglas Hartung. They have called twelve witness to the stand.
DeAndrew Woodard and Juan Bosquez…who are both incarcerated on separate charges… were two of the first witness to give testimony. The basics of Woodard’s testimony was that he was lodged at the Lenawee County Jail in 2018 the same time as Andrew Cecil, had maybe three conversations with him, and was introduced to him through Bosquez. Woodard testified that he had experience in making people not show up to testify…whether that be beating someone up or paying them off. Woodard stated, under oath, that Cecil did not want Dickerson to show up for his trial to testify against him in the May 2018 stabbing case against Cecil.
Woodard said that Cecil told him that money was not a problem…and they talked about prices to make sure Dickerson didn’t take the stand. Fast-forward to January 2019, near Cecil’s court date. Woodard and Cecil, according to testimony, had a conversation about whether or not Cecil still needed Woodard to make sure Dickerson didn’t show up. Cecil said, to the effect of, it’ll take care of itself. Woodard testified that he was nervous to testify because of possible repercussions . He said that he believes testifying was the right thing to do.
Now for the testimony of Juan Bosquez. He testified that he was a member of the Adrian gang called the Latin Counts when he was younger. Bosquez said that on January 21st, 2019 he was at a home on Merrick Street in Adrian…being taught how to make meth. After using the drugs, a group of people left the house in Adrian, and headed towards Hudson to party. Bosquez testified that Dickerson was at that party…and that people there were socializing and using more meth. At some point, early in the morning, multiple people left in two vehicles to go do a robbery outside of town. Bosquez was in the vehicle that turned around just outside the Hudson city limits, and headed back to the party. He testified that the other car had Chris Dickerson, David Taylor, and Austin Richardson in it. That car continued into Medina Township to commit the robbery. Juan saw Taylor and Richardson return, but not Dickerson. A few people asked where he was…they answered by saying they dropped him off at a girl’s house.
Bosquez testified that he, David Taylor, and Austin Richardson went back to Richardson’s house in Adrian and got high. Later that morning, Bosquez drove Richardson to Wendy’s Restaurant on the corner of Beecher and Main in Adrian…because Austin was to meet with Trevino for some reason. Bosquez testified that he committed two robberies between January 21st, 2019 and February 3rd, 2019. During that time frame he hung out with David Taylor every day…and even let him use his phone because Taylor didn’t have one. Taylor communicated with others via Bosquez’s Facebook messenger.
During the cross-examination by the Defense Attorney’s Stanley Sala and James Daly, focused on the group’s use of methamphetamines and how it could alter someone’s state of mind. Daly asked Bosquez if he knew Trevino was a Latin Count…he said that he doesn’t know. Sala referenced one of the ‘rules’ the Latin Counts live by…which is that if you inform on a brother the punishment is death. He talked about other brothers who have ‘snitched’ and are still alive.
Two people that have said, on the record, that they were with Chris Dickerson when he was killed in January 2019 …Austin Richardson and David Taylor… also testified in his murder trial in Lenawee County Circuit Court. They are both currently incarcerated.
Taylor, was a member of an Adrian gang called the Latin Counts from 2010 through 2019. He testified that he knew the defendants, and that Trevino was a ‘1st’ …a leader in the gang. His story about the gathering on Merrick Street, in Adrian, to get high on meth…and the trip to a party in Hudson was consistent with prior statements made by Juan Bosquez. After spending some time at Austin Richardson’s sister’s house in Hudson, Taylor was part of the group that went to go commit a robbery in Medina Township.
Taylor testified that he drove the car, but Richardson told him where to go…which was ultimately a hunting blind. Taylor, Richardson, and Dickerson…who went with them for the robbery… never found the blind. Taylor testified that Austin Richardson shot Chris Dickerson. In court, Taylor said that Richardson tried to take a picture of Dickerson on someone else’s phone. Taylor said that he didn’t know that Dickerson would be shot. He said that Richardson called Trevino when the two of them got back to Adrian. Taylor also said he had a phone conversation with Trevino.
Taylor said the plan the morning after Dickerson’s murder was to meet Trevino at the Wendy’s parking lot. Taylor did not attend…instead, he got high and passed out at home. At first, Taylor said he lied about who shot Dickerson…saying it was himself. He thought doing that would give him more ‘street cred.’ Further testimony by Taylor showed that he ultimately led police to the location of Chris Dickerson’s body. Why did he do that? … he said it was the right thing to do.
Taylor’s testimony also involved some time talking about the Adrian Latin Counts. The juries for both Trevino and Cecil were shown a red and black sweater that was admitted as evidence…with symbols that were said to be affiliated with the Counts sewn on it. Taylor was also asked about the Ten Rules that the Latin Counts live by…mainly number seven, which…simplified…means that a Count will never tell on a brother… and that the punishment would be death. David Taylor was afraid to testify because of the possible repercussions later.
James Daly, the council for Trevino, asked Taylor if he talked to Trevino about murdering Chris Dickerson. He said: no. Stanley Sala, the council for Cecil, asked Taylor if Richardson killed Dickerson to get back into the Latin Counts. He said: yes.
In the examination, and cross-examination, of Austin Richardson, most of the accounts the night of Dickerson’s murder are the same as David Taylor’s story. The big difference is that Richardson said that Taylor shot Dickerson…and that Richardson said he tried to stay sober that night.
Taylor testified that Richardson killed Dickerson to get back into the Latin Counts, and Richardson said that Taylor shot him so Taylor could get a Board position with the Counts…and that he could ‘fall back’ out of the gang.
The question of lying and loyalty were brought up by both the Prosecution and Defense at the jury trial during Richardson’s examination. He admitted that he had lied in multiple interviews with law enforcement… once because he didn’t want to get involved in a homicide case, and again out of loyalty to Andrew Cecil and Count Tereso the Almighty Trevino. Richardson said that now, his loyalty has changed… even though he said he was nervous on the stand.
While in prison on a separate case, Richardson said that he and Trevino had around 5 phone calls and exchanged about 20 postcards. There were conversations about Richardson’s upcoming trial…and multiple statements from Trevino about not ‘spilling his coffee’… meaning to not ‘spill the beans.’ Richardson gave a statement about the Dickerson murder, and gave detectives Trevino’s name. Richardson did tell Trevino that he had ‘spilled his coffee’. Richardson said that he would clean up his mess. Eventually, Richardson also gave a statement about Cecil’s involvement in Dickerson’s death.
The cross examination hammered home the fact that Richardson was making and selling methamphetamines, and that Latin Counts were not supposed to use drugs. Richardson said that Dickerson was one of his best clients to sell meth to…and that they were both friends that had known each other for 15 years. Again, the defense pointed out that other Counts had snitched before, and were not killed…as the 10 rules would suggest. Stanley Sala tried to impeach Richardson’s testimony over inconsistent statements…the motion was overruled by Lenawee County Circuit Court Judge Michael Olsaver. Richardson admitted in his testimony that he lied in prior interviews… so there would be inconsistent statements in court versus recorded interviews with law enforcement.
In court, Richardson was asked by Sala if his client, Andrew Cecil, talked to him about wanting Chris Dickerson dead. He said ‘no’.
In re-cross examination, Douglas Hartung, asked Richardson if Trevino told him to kill Dickerson. Richardson replied: yes. Richardson testified there was a meeting with himself, Cecil, and Trevino in the Lenawee County jail where Trevino said that Dickerson must die. The actual verbiage used was ‘smoked.’ Due to retention issues with the Jail’s video and audio recording systems in 2018, footage was not able to be played in court.
Richardson says he agreed to assist in the murder of Dickerson, but after that he decided to keep him high, happy, and close. Richardson said that Dickerson wasn’t going to testify. He told Trevino and Taylor that…but they did not believe him.
Richardson testified that he knew Dickerson’s death would happen, but he didn’t think it would happen the way that he says it did.
Tune in to future newscasts as WLEN News reports on two boxes that were given to family members that may be Latin Count related, testimony from a Special Agent with the United States Department of Homeland Security about the gang and the box’s contents, a defendant’s ex-fiancé, and Chris Dickerson’s mother.
Trial is set to resume Tuesday in Lenawee County Circuit Court.
Tune into our local and state newscasts, anytime day or night, for this story and more.
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