The presentation of evidence began this morning in the Wake County case against Justin Bass, 25, who is charged with attempted murder and assault with a deadly weapon with intent to kill or inflict serious injury.
The charge stems from a late-night shooting in Fuquay-Varina’s Bay Tree apartment complex this past July 4. The shooting left Jerome Fogg, who has experience with Mixed Martial Arts training, injured. Bass is expected to testify that he acted in self-defense.
This morning’s testimony included two state’s witnesses. A neighbor testified to hearing late-night commotion in the parking lot. She looked through her door peep-hole, saw a man with orange sneakers walking around, and then heard the sound of “pop-pop-pop-pop.” She called 911 after seeing Bass lying on the ground outside of her apartment.
A security guard for the apartment complex testified that he heard the gunshots, and then saw Bass, holding a gun, and another man, Bruce Douglas, fleeing the scene. The guard said Bass jumped into Douglas’ car about 60 or 70 yards down the road. (Douglas, Bass’ co-defendant, is charged with felony accessory after the fact.)
The security guard made a quick reference to a previous altercation, in which Fogg punched Bass in the face, breaking his jaw, and decapitated a cat shortly afterward.
Testimony is resuming this afternoon.
