News 12, February 8, 2012

EVANS, Ga.--The trial for a 15 year old accused of murder continued Wednesday with prosecutors playing a nearly 4 hour long interrogation tape. The tape features Aaron Schmidt and investigators just hours after the deadly shooting.

Schmidt is accused of shooting and killing Alana Calahan with a gun he took from her own home days before. Prosecutors say Schmidt shot her while she was on Facebook, then dragged her body to the woods and hid the gun to cover it all up.

So far this week the jury has heard from Alana's family, investigators and crime scene experts, as well as the panicked 9-1-1 call. Schmidt's half-sister and cousin told the jury he is troubled. They say he is a product of incest and was sexually abused as a child.

On the recorded interrogation tape, investigators testified Schmidt was initially brought in as a witness, not a suspect. The then 14-year old repeatedly changes his story after investigators say his series of events do not match the evidence.

Schmidt originally says he was walking to the Calahan's house on January 31, 2011 to tell them he was on restriction and could not spend time at the home for the next two weeks. He tells investigators after seeing a strange man walking in the woods, he noticed a door open at the Calahan's home. He knew Alana's older sister, Amanda, was down the driveway picking up their brother from the bus stop and went inside to check on things. It's there Schmidt tells investigators he took off his shoes at the door, then found the computer chair turned over and what he believed to be red Kool Aid.

"The computer chair was tipped over and I seen a bunch of red, it made me think something had happened," Schmidt says.

When Amanda came back from the bus stop, they began the search together and found Alana's body on a trail in the woods. At one point, Schmidt draws out a map for investigators of the scene and neighboring homes.

Schmidt tells investigators about the moment he found the body. "I felt like puking when it did happen, I couldn't...I was bawling and everything,"

For hours, Schmidt holds firm to his original story that he saw an intruder in the woods leaving the Calahan home. Schmidt's description of the intruder also changes multiple times over the course of several hours.

"He was dressed in grayish blackish pants, black boots an a black jacket on with a black beanie on and he saw me and looked at me and ran. He was a white, he was a white man," describes Schmidt. "All I seen was the black person, blackish...then I saw a white face," he added minutes later.

His stories range from seeing a man in the woods, to being inside when the shooting took place and being threatened himself by the unknown man, and then to blaming the shooting on another teenager in the neighborhood. At one point, Schmidt says the unknown man forced him to drag the body to the woods and ditch the gun. On the tape, investigators tested Schmidt for gun shot residue. He tells them there's a lot on him, because he went target shooting a few days earlier with a .22 rifle.

After investigators tell him tracking dogs found no tracks in the woods to show there was a second person there, Schmidt eventually admits he is the one who shot his 14 year old friend.

"Initially he indicated that he didn't do anything. That it was this other guy that had done this and then eventually as the story progressed, he did say that he had the gun and it went off," Investigator Jones testified.

At first he tells investigators Alana wanted to learn how to use the .9 mm pistol, even though he admits he didn't have much experience with the weapon. Then he confesses he's the one that retrieved the gun from Alana's father's bedroom.

"The crime scene does not lie, the crime scene does not lie...it sounds like your trying to cover it up," explains Investigator Jones.

Schmidt claims the shooting was an accident, that the gun just went off unexpectedly while he was trying to secure it and take it away from Alana. Schmidt details for investigators how he panicked, not wanting to hurt the Calahan family, and dragged the body to the woods, fabricating a story to cover up the shooting in a matter of about 10 minutes. On the recording, investigators tell Schmidt his prints are the only ones on the gun they found stashed in the woods, Alana's are not on the weapon.

"I didn't mean to hurt her," the teenager tells investigators.

When investigators leave the interrogation room, Schmidt can be seen putting his head between his legs and stretching out. Investigators testified Schmidt appeared calm, getting upset multiple times when he spoke about the events but never crying actual tears. Schmidt compares the bloody trail through the woods as a trail where the family frequently took out the garbage. Later investigators compare him dragging Alana's body to him "taking out the garbage."

"When he talks about Alana falling over and moaning is he crying?" Asks Assistant District Attorney Natalie Paine. "No," answers Investigators Brian Jones. "When he talks about her blood gushing from her head is he crying?" Asks Paine. "No," answers Investigator Jones. "When he talks about dragging her body back to the path is he crying?" Asks Paine. "No," answers Investigator Jones.

Investigators ask Schmidt to take off his shoes, showing that blood is on the top of his socks as well as the bottom. They point out that the only way to have blood on the top is if he handled the body or was present at the shooting.

Assistant District Attorney Natalie Paine questioned the GBI crime lab medical examiner. He said blood was found in both Alana Calahan's lungs and stomach, meaning she inhaled and swallowed blood before she died. He went on to say there's no way to determine if she lived seconds or minutes after the shooting. Schmidt tells investigators after the shooting Alana fell forward out of the chair, moaned and then stopped moving and stopped breathing.

"She wasn't breathing, she wasn't moving. She just laid there, blood going everywhere. I didn't know what to do," describes Schmidt.

Both the prosecution and the defense rested their cases Wednesday afternoon. Schmidt stood as he addressed the judge and acknowledged he would not be testifying in his defense. No witnesses were called by the public defender's office.

In court Wednesday Schmidt appeared distracted and distant as the tape played out. He continually wrote notes and scribbled back and forth between his defense team.

Schmidt is being charged as an adult and is facing life in prison without parole. Originally during opening statements the defense asked the jury to consider voluntary manslaughter charges, instead of murder. That conviction would hold maximum sentence of 20 years in prison. However, Wednesday Judge Michael Annis ruled there is not enough evidence presented to support for the jury to consider that charge. The jury will consider whether the shooting was accidental when they deliberate. Schmidt is also charged with possession of a firearm during the commission of a crime and theft by taking, after several stolen items belonging to the Calahan family were found at his residence.

Thursday court will reconvene at 8:30am. The jury is expected to hear closing arguments and then begin deliberations. News 12 will again be in the courtroom and will continue to keep you updated. Stay with News 12 and wrdw.com for continuing coverage.