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Teen testifies former friend was shooter

He says the Trinity Oaks youth asked him to make up a self-defense story after the slaying in a drug deal that went bad.

By STEVE THOMPSON
Published May 18, 2005

NEW PORT RICHEY - Giovani Otailvo, 17, sat on the witness stand, and a prosecutor asked him to point out the shooter. Without pause, Otailvo raised his finger toward 18-year-old Randolph Wang, who sat beside his lawyer, watching.

Neither teen showed emotion as their eyes met.

The two used to go to parties together. They spent the night at each other's houses. But on Tuesday, Otailvo gave testimony that could help convict his former best friend of second-degree murder.

Called as a state witness, Otailvo described a marijuana sale gone wrong the evening of Sept. 26, as wind and rain from Hurricane Jeanne swept through the parking lot of a Publix on Sunray Drive in Holiday.

Otailvo raised his arms to show how he said Wang fired a .38 caliber revolver at 18-year-old Charles "Barry" Smith III, who died four days later. Smith's friend Craig Blanchard, 19, also was shot but lived.

Otailvo told jurors that just after the confrontation, Wang said he shot Smith "because he robbed me."

Otailvo said Wang asked him to make up a story of self-defense.

After his arrest, Wang tried to call him collect from the county jail, Otailvo said. He said he didn't accept the charges.

Otailvo and Wang were two of three teens riding together in a Nissan Altima the night of the shooting. The third was Billy Widner, who also testified Tuesday against his friend.

Wang's attorney, Donald Harrison, says his client, who has pleaded not guilty, fired the gun only because Smith menaced him with a knife. During cross examination of Widner, Harrison repeatedly asked what Wang said about the knife after the shooting.

"He said that he (Smith) had a knife, correct, but no I did not see a knife," Widner answered.

Prosecutors say Wang fired at Smith, Blanchard and another youth, 17-year-old Robert Maniatis, as the three fled with an ounce of marijuana stolen from Wang.

Smith was hit three times; Blanchard, sitting in a nearby car, was hit once. Maniatis was not wounded.

Prosecutors say Wang, of 1733 Percheron Drive in Trinity Oaks, later hired a cabdriver to take him to New York City, but the driver stopped in Jacksonville and called police after Wang told him he murdered someone.

The trial continues today.

[Last modified May 18, 2005, 00:50:19]