Victim's mom yells out at Central Islip murder trial

An emotional outburst by the mother of a murder victim caused a stir in a Riverhead courtroom Monday at the murder trial of the man charged with killing her son.

"Your honor, my son was a good son," Lorraine Jermon shouted to Judge Martin Efman after defense attorney John LoTurco completed his closing argument in the trial of Lavelle Todd, 20, of Central Islip. Todd is accused of killing Jermon's son, Robert Adams, 18, on Memorial Day 2008.

When Efman ordered her to leave the courtroom, Jermon added, referring to LoTurco, "He didn't tell you he [Todd] had a fight with my son."

The jury, which had been leaving the courtroom for a lunch break when Jermon spoke, returned to the courtroom and was ordered by Efman to ignore Jermon's comments.

Prosecutors say Todd killed Adams, of Central Islip, and wounded two other men in the shooting at the Central Islip Recreation Center.

Todd has pleaded not guilty to second-degree murder, second-degree attempted murder, first-degree gang assault and first-degree assault.

LoTurco said prosecutors never suggested Todd and Adams fought before Adams was killed. He said he worried Jermon's outburst might influence jurors to convict Todd, but he did not request a mistrial.

"I'm concerned that they're going to consider sympathy and evidence that was never presented in the case," he said outside court.

After speaking with Assistant District Attorney Robert Biancavilla, Jermon sat in a hallway while Biancavilla delivered his closing argument.

Prosecutors say Todd, an alleged member of an offshoot of the Bloods street gang, shot three men, including Adams, as the result of a feud between rival gangs. Two men allegedly wounded by Todd belonged to the Green And White street gang, also known as GNW or G-Dubs; Adams was not a gang member but knew the two injured men, prosecutors said.

In his summation, Biancavilla said Todd intended to shoot anyone wearing green, G-Dubs' gang color. Adams was wearing a green and yellow shirt to an annual community gathering known as "CI Day," attended by hundreds of people.

"The only thing he [Todd] hit were people wearing green or people associated with that G-Dubs group," Biancavilla said. "What does that tell you about what he was thinking when he fired that weapon? . . . It was to kill anyone wearing green."

LoTurco said Todd shot his gun "in self-defense and self-preservation" when a G-Dubs member reached for a semiautomatic weapon.

"The law permits the use of deadly physical force if you are threatened with deadly physical force," LoTurco said. " . . . It's clear that he never intended to shoot at Robert Adams."

The jury of six women and six men is expected to begin deliberating Tuesday.