Man shot by Mesquite officer takes stand in trial

The man shot and wounded by a now-fired Mesquite police officer took the stand in the now-former officer's trial.

Lyndo Jones testified that he ended up in a random parking lot the night he was shot by former Officer Derick Wiley because he got lost on his way home from work. He claims he did not know the man with a gun was a police officer and he testified he'd been getting high.

A soft-spoken Jones took the stand saying he’s still in pain from the shooting and can’t work to support his family, including his three young children.

Jones said he had no idea the person shining all the bright white lights at his truck was a police officer. He says he complied because he didn’t want to get shot.

It was prosecutors who asked Jones what he was doing in his car before the confrontation.

Jones told jurors he smoked marijuana and did some cocaine while in the parking lot. Shortly afterwards, he had the encounter with Wiley. Jones says he there were no red or blue flashing lights so he had no idea who was screaming at him and explained why he tried to run.

“He was talking about I’m gonna eff-ing shoot you. I didn’t know who it was, I am running. I was scared. That’s why. I’m scared,” Jones testified.

Jones says he was unarmed and complied with Wiley’s commands but tried to run out of fear when Wiley put a knee on his back and apparently tried to handcuff him. He remembers little else before finding himself in the hospital.

“It hurt when I woke up in the hospital from the pain and stuff having nightmares,” he said. “Boom! Boom! Just hearing flashes and seeing it. I’m seeing it, having nightmares.”

When the prosecutor asked Jones why he had his shirt off when temperatures outside were in the 40s, he testified he does sandblasting for work and regularly takes off his dirty shirt when he gets in his truck.

Attorney’s representing Jones in a civil lawsuit against the city of Mesquite are sitting in on the criminal proceedings.

“At the end of the day, a person was in his own car and was shot because of it,” said Justin Moore, attorney for Jones. “It doesn’t matter what he was doing in his car.”

Before Jones’ testimony, prosecutors brought up two crime scene reconstruction experts who created a 3D image showing Jones’ position the moment Wilson shot him twice in the back. Defense attorneys objected to the images saying they were inaccurate and misleading.

In the last 15 minutes of the day, it was the start of cross-examination. Wiley’s defense attorney pointed out Jones’ criminal history, which includes assault family violence, resisting arrest and five years in prison for burglary and harassing a public servant.

The cross-examination of Jones will continue first thing Thursday morning.