DALLAS — On day six of his trial, a former Balch Springs police officer charged with the murder of a 15-year-old teen took the stand in his defense.
After the prosecution rested its case, the defense called 38-year-old Roy Oliver to the stand and attempted to connect with the jury through testimony about the former officer's military background. Oliver testified he was hit twice while serving, once by an IAD explosive and once by an anti-tank explosion.
He also became emotional as he described the moment one of his friends was killed in a suicide bombing.
“No, heroes are those that don't come back alive,” said Oliver when asked if he considered himself a hero.
He also talked about his time growing up in Tarrant County with a single mother on welfare. He said he worked at Six Flags as a teen and then dropped out of high school before joining the military.
He went on to become a firefighter and then an officer.
But it was his actions on April 29, 2017 that were on trial. That was the night he shot 15-year-old John Edwards, who was a passenger in a vehicle driven by his stepbrother and carrying two other teens.
Right after the shooting, Oliver first said he shot into the car carrying the teens leaving the party because the vehicle was moving toward a fellow officer. Authorities later revealed video from the scene showed the vehicle was moving away from officers. Oliver was later fired and charged with murder and four counts of aggravated assault by a public servant.
Officers were called to the scene of a Balch Springs home that night after reports of drunken teens.
Oliver said prior to the call, police were aware of two gun incidents in the area. In one case, Oliver said an individual was shot in the hand a few blocks from the Edwards incident.
"The individual was uncooperative," he said. "No suspect information. Shooter at large."
The former officer said police were also aware of a murder suspect at large in a case that took place a month or two before at a house party in nearby Mesquite.
Oliver said upon his arrival at the scene on April 29, he saw people on the sidewalks and vehicles parked "all over" the roadside.
"Party-goers were just streaming out of the house," he said.
Oliver said he and Officer Tyler Gross then heard gunshots after they surveyed the home and area.
"It sounded like a semi-automatic, or maybe multiple semi-automatics going off at a very close proximity to where we were at," he said on the stand.
The gunshots were later determined to have come from a nearby nursing home.
According to prosecutor Michael Snipes during his opening arguments, Edwards, his brother and his friends were also already inside a Chevy Impala when the shots were fired. They were trying to leave the scene after officers told them to do so, but police vehicles were blocking the street, he said.
But all of that was not known by the officers as the shots rang out.
"Active shooter," Oliver said of what he thought next.
He said he then became concerned for the party-goers, who were exiting the home. Oliver said he left the home, called dispatch to report shots fired and grabbed an AR-15.
Oliver said he then saw Officer Gross focus in on one vehicle and yell out, "stop the [expletive] car" with his service weapon out.
"We got to stop the car," Oliver said he thought at that moment.
The vehicle was the Impala carrying Edwards and other teens. According to Snipes, it caught the officers' attention as it slowly backed up due to Barron Street being blocked by patrol cars.
Oliver then said the vehicle suddenly began moving forward toward Gross.
"I had a lot of information to process real fast," he said. "And I almost watched my partner get hit by a car."
"I was trying to stop a threat — toward my partner, toward anyone out there," he said of his next decision to fire into the vehicle.
Oliver fired five shots within .934 seconds, according to Snipes.
While the former officer said he was in shock and couldn't remember his immediate reaction after firing the shots, Bob Gill, Oliver's attorney, said he can be heard on tape after the shooting asking Gross, "Are you alright? He tried to hit you."
The vehicle drove away and was soon stopped by police.
"It was a punch to the gut and very sickening," Oliver said of the moment he saw Edwards fatally wounded in the vehicle.
Dash-cam video showed Vidal Allen, Edwards' stepbrother who was driving the car, tell officers his little brother was dead.
"Please don't hurt me, sir," he said. "I'm just 16, sir."
During his final testimony with defense, Oliver said he believes the shooting may have been prevented if any of the witnesses at the scene had been able to warn him that wasn't the suspect vehicle or if the driver would have followed orders.
Earlier in the morning, the judge ruled that jurors wouldn't be allowed to hear allegations against the former officer in connection to an alleged road rage incident that occurred a few weeks before the fatal shooting of Edwards. In that case, Monique Arredondo and Ashley Cuevas accused Oliver of pulling a gun on them out of anger after Arredondo rear-ended his vehicle while he was off duty.
However, in a surprise move, Oliver's lawyers brought up the incident.
The former officer said he was traveling in his truck with his wife and son when Arredondo's vehicle struck the back of his vehicle. He said after checking on his family, he went to check on the people in the other vehicle, but said he heard what sounded like "argumentative-type yelling" coming from the car.
Oliver said he then grabbed a pistol from his car out of precaution believing there may have been a disturbance inside the other vehicle that led to the crash. He said he pulled up his shirt to display his gun and showed his officer badge as well.
Oliver said the two women inside the car began yelling about the crash and who was at fault, and at one point he used his finger to point. He said he also became concerned by movements inside the car, worrying someone might pull out a gun.
He said he held the gun against his chest as he ordered the women to show their identification and insurance.
Arredondo claims that Oliver immediately came at her with a gun pointed toward her and never identified himself.
After Oliver's testimony, prosecutors seized the opportunity.
"You said it could have been a lot worse," Snipes said. "You could have shot them too, like you did poor Jordan Edwards."
Prosecutors also talked about a post made by Oliver on his Facebook page about killing people, but the former officer said he was referencing his time serving in the military.
This case is expected to go to the jury for deliberations by Friday.