The trial of an Athens man accused of shooting and killing his wife in front of two children began this week in Limestone County Circuit Court.

Thomas Edward Green, 33, was indicted Oct. 18, 2018, on one count of murder in the death of 35-year-old Cheryl Holt. Limestone County Assistant District Attorney Kristen Clemmons told jurors Tuesday that Green shot his wife Jan. 25, 2018, during an argument between the two.

Clemmons said Green had been drinking that day and Holt caught him exchanging text messages with an ex-partner. She told jurors that Green retrieved a gun from outside, loaded it while arguing with Holt, then pointed it at her chest and pulled the trigger — all while their 3-year-old daughter and her 8-year-old son were in the room.

However, defense attorney Michael Sizemore asked jurors to reconsider that story, saying it conflicted with reports from Athens Police Chief Floyd Johnson. In an article published two days after the shooting, Johnson is quoted by The News Courier as saying the shooting was accidental.

“The reason the gun was out and how the shooting happened is understandable,” Johnson said. “It wasn’t a case where he pulls out a gun and shoots.”

APD initially withheld Green’s name because they did not have probable cause to charge him or to believe a crime had been committed.

Clemmons told jurors that Green had instructed Holt’s son to tell first responders his mom had shot herself. The child, now 11, gave a similar account when he took the stand shortly after opening statements Tuesday.

He said he had been mostly watching TV that day while his mom and Green were outside. He testified he didn’t see Green bring the gun inside, play with it or load it, but he did see Green get a notification on his phone and sit down in a chair in the living room a few feet from him.

The child said he was playing with the family’s dog, Roscoe, when Green and Holt started “fussing.” He then saw Green pull the gun on his mom.

“I saw him point it towards her and pull the trigger,” he said. “… She fell backwards.”

He admitted he “mostly was in shock,” and that he remembered Green telling him “to go get a shirt or towel … so he could wipe blood.”

The child said when he returned, the gun was in his mother’s hand and Green was saying she had shot herself. He said he remembered being on the phone with 911 and with his grandmother, and that he repeated Green’s version of events to the police.

“It was a lie,” he said. “It was very chaotic, and I didn’t know what to say.”

Audio from the 911 call was played for the jurors after his testimony. During the call, Green can be heard telling the dispatcher his wife had been shot and saying he didn’t do it.

“She grabbed it and it went off,” he said in the call, before telling someone in the home to “get a rag and wipe it off.”

The phone is eventually handed to the child, who tells the dispatcher, “My mom picked up a gun … and then she got shot by it.” He can be heard telling the dispatcher that his mom is laying down before a dog starts barking in the background. The child tells the dispatcher that police are there, asking, “What am I supposed to do?” before the call ends.

The law

Alabama law defines murder as causing the death of another person intentionally, engaging in reckless behavior “under circumstances manifesting extreme indifference to human life” or while committing or attempting to commit certain other crimes. The law does not apply in the first two situations if the accused “was moved to act by a sudden heat of passion caused by provocation recognized by law and before there had been a reasonable time for the passion to cool and for reason to assert itself.”

Green’s trial is expected to last through at least Thursday. If convicted, he faces life in prison.