Sasha Skare, the woman charged with killing 34-year-old aspiring rapper Martell DeRouen, Beyoncé’s cousin, has finally commenced.
Also known as Kardone, Martell was killed in January 2021. Allegedly, Skare shot the rapper through the door of his apartment. It was reported that the shooting came after an argument between the two, and he was killed with a single bullet.
The jurors of the trial were shown a disturbing video on Tuesday (Aug. 29). In it, Skare was seen walking to his apartment with a gun in her hand. In her other was a mobile phone.
In addition, the jurors listened to an audio of a 911 call from someone claiming to be Joia DeRouen, Martell’s wife, stating she felt he was in danger, but she did not have a key to their apartment.
However, the wife of the late rapper stated that she was not the woman in the recording. She believed the defendant was on the phone and shared misinformation with the dispatcher.
The widow stated the defendant pronounced their last name wrong. “My name starts with a J and not a G. He was not 28, he was 34. Not correct at all,” Joia said.
Pedro Padilla, Martell’s associate, was called to testify on the stand. He stated he saw Martell and Skare together several times.
He also recounted his Ring doorbell camera catching the suspect wearing a long blue-green dress. She was walking barefoot down the hallway, carrying a gun and phone. He heard a gunshot around 9 p.m. local time, but he did not think it was an actual one.
“I thought it was just a firework,” Padilla said.
A neighbor who lived across from Martell, Caroline Eichman, stated that she saw Skare banging on Martell’s door around the time the gunshot was heard going off.