CINCINNATI — The woman who survived an ambush-style shooting in February 2021 testified Wednesday against Carl Godfrey, who's facing multiple charges for the shooting deaths of four people.
Maliaya Freeman was shot and wounded in the shooting on Feb 16, 2021, which Godfrey was allegedly the shooter of.
Cincinnati police described these killings in the winter of 2021 as a "reign of terror."
Freeman described the moments she watched her boyfriend die, while sitting next to him in the car. Freeman said she was in the passenger seat. Her boyfriend, Deontay Otis, was driving, and the alleged intended target of the shooting, Aaron Whitfield, was sitting in the backseat behind Otis. Freeman said she ducked down to try and avoid getting shot but got hit. Once the shooting was over, she said she ran to a stranger's apartment to call for help.
"Next thing you know, we just heard shots," Freeman said on the stand Wednesday, while getting emotional describing what happened that day.
Prosecutors showed the jury 21 bullet holes that hit the car that day after three people fired multiple rounds at them. Otis died in the driver's seat.
"He starts saying, he starts saying 'I'm hit, I'm shot, I'm dead,'" Freeman said.
Those may have been Otis' last words.
Allison Oswall, assistant Hamilton County prosecuting attorney, asked her if she was injured during that shooting. Freeman said yes.
"I got shot right here," said Freeman, pointing to her right side near the chest.
Freeman said she not only has a visible scar from the shooting, but she described the trauma she deals with today. Those in the courtroom could notice her nervously tapping her food while she was on the witness stand Wednesday.
"Yes, I have real bad anxiety, I don't like to be parked in like, I can't park in certain type of way," Freeman said.
Prosecutors showed, once again, CPD body camera footage of the shooting, and the moment officers arrived and found Whitfield shot and wounded on the ground outside of the car. Freeman testified Whitfield was on the phone with a man for "a while," and that man was someone she knew as "C.J." She said Whitfield was still on the phone with him minutes before they were shot.
Oswall asked Freeman if she knew who C.J. was and she said yes. Freeman pointed to Godfrey and said his first and last name, while describing the blue shirt he was wearing to the jury.
While prosecutors were expected to call one of Godfrey's co-defendants to the stand Wednesday, that didn't happen.
Prosecutors told WCPO 9 they expect to call Mario Gordon to the stand Thursday. He's one of the accused shooters from Feb. 16, 2021, and he's also facing murder charges from the shooting. Prosecutors say he plans on cooperating and testifying against Godfrey.
