Eric Davis, expected today to hear the verdict of jurors deciding his case, took the stand in his own defense Wednesday and said he “just reacted” to threats on his own life when he shot and killed Devin M. Moore on June 25, 2008.

“I just pulled the trigger,” Davis said. “As I fired the gun, it was like everything just… I just fired. I didn’t even know that he was hit. I just reacted.”

Davis faces a murder indictment, which carries a state-set sentence of life without parole. Jurors may also deliberate whether he acted without premeditation and return a manslaughter verdict, which has a 20-year maximum penalty. If they find he acted in self-defense, according to his testimony that Moore came at him with a gun several days after Moore’s mother, Helen Williams, had threatened him, Davis could be acquitted.

The shooting occurred just after 10 p.m. at 106 Meadowvale Drive, where Williams and Moore lived. Davis lived next door, at 112 Meadowvale, with his fiancee and her three children.

Williams also testified Wednesday. She said she was washing dishes when she heard several gunshots outside her home. She ran to a window and saw Davis — then standing over Moore, who was lying on the ground — fire “two or three” more shots into her son.

There was no testimony that the victim, who was 23, fired a weapon and conflicting testimony on whether he was armed. Police did find a handgun, believed to be Moore’s, at the scene. The .22-caliber weapon used by Davis was not recovered.

Presiding Judge Isadore Patrick was expected to instruct the jurors this morning as attorneys gave closing arguments and jurors began deliberations. Davis, convicted of cocaine possession in 1995, also faces a charge of possessing a weapon after being convicted of a felony. That charge carries a potential 10-year prison sentence.

Among those testifying Wednesday, the trial’s third day, were a woman who recounted a cell phone conversation she had with Moore minutes before the shooting; cell phone and 911 officials; Davis’ fiancee; and Mississippi Crime Lab forensic scientists.

“Devin was my life,” Williams said. She recounted how he had just gotten off work at Ameristar, where he was a “popular” server who more than once came home with lots of tips. She said Moore had a gun because he had been robbed and beaten in the past.

Defense counsel John Bullard questioned Williams about Moore’s need to carry a pistol while in his front yard talking on the phone, suggesting he was intimidating.

“He was afraid of Eric Davis,” she countered.

Bullard also questioned Williams about inconsistencies between her testimony and a statement she gave police about two months after the shooting, particularly with regard to the position of Moore when he was on the ground, a critical aspect of Davis’ self-defense claim.

Both Assistant District Attorney Dewey Arthur and Bullard interrogated Williams about the rift between her and Davis, which began over a riding lawnmower Williams had agreed to sell Davis, and later extended to Williams’ dogs and the property lines between the two homes.

Davis also was questioned about the disputes, which he said continued even after the lawnmower problem was resolved. He said he called police three times to complain about Williams and posted “No Trespassing” signs on his house.

Three or four days before the shooting, Williams and a man he knew only as “Dominique” threatened him in the back yard where the two properties meet, Davis testified.

“He was standing with a big gun, a big pistol,” Davis said of the man. “She was standing behind him, and she said she wishes someone would kill me, she hopes I die.”

Davis said he walked away from the confrontation, but the next day got a gun to protect himself, his fiancee and the children.

In cross-examination, Arthur questioned why Davis would call police about dogs in his yard, but not when his life was threatened.

The night of the shooting, Davis said, he was trimming hedges in his front yard when Moore came up to him with a gun, the same one the other man had held. Davis picked up his own gun then and began shooting, he said. He then got into his truck and drove to a friend’s house, planning to ask for a ride to the police station to turn himself in. On the way, he threw his gun away, he said.

Police records show Davis turned himself in at 10:39 p.m., about half an hour after the shooting.

There was no evidence that Moore’s gun, which was found nearby, was fired.

Bullard asked Davis if he had any alternative to obtaining a weapon and shooting Moore.

“I didn’t know what to do,” Davis said. “I had to protect my family.”

The trial also included a trip for jurors to the normally quiet neighborhood where the shooting occurred. Jurors have been sequestered at a motel and will not be released until the trial ends.

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Contact Pamela Hitchins at phitchins@vicksburgpost.com