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<p>WILKES-BARRE &#8212; The fourth day of proceedings in the trial for the homicide of Michael &#8220;DJ Mo&#8221; Onley opened with explosive testimony from David &#8220;D-Rock&#8221;Nealy, the man prosecutors say drove the car the fatal shot was fired from.</p><p>Nealy&#8217;s version of events was nearly identical to the one told by prosecutors &#8212; except he claims he was unaware that his co-defendant, Roberto &#8220;Ruthless&#8221; Battle, planned to fire off rounds at the now closed Outsiders Bar.</p><p>Nealy and Battle have been on trial this week for the Oct. 13, 2013 homicide of Onley, a prominent local entertainer. Onley was shot dead outside of Outsiders Bar on South Main Street in the early hours of that morning when a bullet fired by a drive-by shooter hit him squarely in the forehead. Nealy and Battle are both charged with open counts of criminal homicide and conspiracy to commit criminal homicide.</p><p><strong>Advised not to testify</strong></p><p>Proceedings began with a dramatic moment outside of the presence of the jury. Nealy&#8217;s attorney, Thomas Sundmaker, said to presiding judge David W. Lupas that he strongly advised Nealy not to testify, saying it was not in his best interest.</p><p>Nealy, visibly anxious as he drummed his fingers on the table and read to himself from a Bible open on the table in front of him, seemed to be going through an internal battle over whether or not to testify.</p><p>After speaking privately to Sundmaker, Nealy decided to testify. On the stand, when asked why he chose to testify, he said, &#8220;I have to. I have to speak my piece. I have to give DJ Mo&#8217;s family closure.&#8221;</p><p>Nealy&#8217;s story initially matched with the one laid out by prosecutors fairly closely. First, he said he picked Battle up from the home of Shakim Varrick and Jessica Fox and then headed to Outsiders.</p><p>There, he said they became separated, and he later learned that Battle had been kicked out of the bar. Nealy was driving Battle back to Varrick and Fox&#8217;s home, when he said Battle spoke on the phone with Jamie Compton, who invited the pair over to her house. Nealy said they were close to Varrick and Fox&#8217;s, so Battle ran inside to grab something.</p><p>But, Nealy said, as they were driving past Outsiders on their way to Compton&#8217;s he heard a series of four gunshots, causing him to panic and speed up. After a short distance, Nealy said Battle told him to slow down.</p><p>&#8220;&#8216;You ain&#8217;t hear them gunshots?&#8217;&#8221; Nealy said he asked.</p><p>&#8220;&#8216;That was me,&#8217;&#8221; Battle allegedly answered.</p><p>Nealy said he and Battle didn&#8217;t conspire to shoot up the bar, saying he wasn&#8217;t even aware that Battle had a gun on him.</p><p>Later that night, the pair had learned that Onley had been shot and killed. Back at the home of Varrick, Nealy said he was trying to convince Battle to turn himself in. Varrick felt that was out of the question, Nealy said.</p><p>&#8220;&#8216;Do you understand what just happened? Everybody seen me in this car,&#8217;&#8221; he claimed to have said to Varrick. &#8220;&#8216;I ain&#8217;t do it, I ain&#8217;t tell him to do it.&#8217;&#8221;</p><p>&#8220;&#8216;Keep your mouth shut,&#8217;&#8221; Nealy claims Varrick said. &#8220;&#8216;Matter of fact, you can just leave.&#8217;&#8221;</p><p>Nealy said Varrick repeatedly threatened him, which is what prevented him from going to the police sooner.</p><p><strong>&#8216;You lied about it&#8217;</strong></p><p>Throughout Nealy&#8217;s testimony, Battle seemed to be growing increasingly agitated, shaking his head and whispering loudly to his attorney, Allyson Kacmarski.</p><p>Assistant District Attorney Jarrett Ferentino, suggested that Nealy&#8217;s testimony on Friday was just another in a series of lies.</p><p>Growing emotional on the stand, Nealy said he wished the shooting hadn&#8217;t happened, fighting through tears as he said it.</p><p>&#8220;You still lied about it,&#8221; Ferentino said. &#8220;Your tears, five years, two months and a day later &#8212; you still lied.&#8221;</p><p>Ferentino was referring to statements Nealy made to Luzerne County Detective Daniel Beky after the shooting which proved to bear no weight.</p><p>Nealy said his lying in that interview came from an instinct to protect himself.</p><p>&#8220;That&#8217;s your instinct today, to protect yourself and continue to lie,&#8221; Ferentino said.</p><p>Nealy&#8217;s defense team rested its case after his testimony. Battle, for his part, chose not to testify in his defense, and his team rested.</p><p><strong>Up to the jury to decide</strong></p><p>Proceedings wrapped up Friday with all three attorneys making powerful closing arguments, reminding the jurors that it is ultimately their job to determine the truth.</p><p>Sundmaker, who had only a few hours prior told his client not to testify, now told jurors that he had testified because he was moved to tell the truth.</p><p>&#8220;He got up there for a reason, and it wasn&#8217;t to lie to you,&#8221; Sundmaker said of Nealy. &#8220;He wanted to tell his story.&#8221;</p><p>Sundmaker argued that Nealy should have gone to the police earlier but, given the alleged threats from Varrick, it was understandable why he hadn&#8217;t.</p><p>Kacmarski, though, pinned the crime on Varrick, alleging that he was the one who fired the shots that killed Onley.</p><p>She pointed to Varrick&#8217;s phone being off at the time of the homicide, preventing phone records from tracking his location, and the sale of the gun used in the homicide, which was owned by Varrick. She referred to Varrick by one of his street names: &#8220;Killer.&#8221;</p><p>&#8220;What do you have to be afraid of unless you were the one to pull the trigger, Killer?&#8221; she asked.</p><p>Ferentino scoffed at both of these claims in his closing.</p><p>&#8220;If there was a shred of evidence that put Shakim Varrick in that car that night, he&#8217;d be sitting in chair number three,&#8221; he said. &#8220;It didn&#8217;t happen.&#8221;</p><p>Ferentino also asked jurors to remember what he referred to as a pattern of lying from Nealy, citing the alleged lies he told Beky during their interview.</p><p>&#8220;&#8216;I&#8217;m not gonna tell Detective Beky what happened; I&#8217;m gonna wait five years and tell 12 strangers,&#8217;&#8221; Ferentino said, characterizing Nealy&#8217;s actions.</p><p>All three attorneys asked the jurors for justice, with the defense attorneys asking for not guilty verdicts and Ferentino asking to send the defendants to prison.</p><p>&#8220;It&#8217;s too late for David to go home to (loved ones), it&#8217;s too late for Ruthless, it&#8217;s too late to save Michael,&#8221; he said, voice quavering as if on the verge of tears. &#8220;But it&#8217;s not too late for justice.&#8221;</p><p>Now, it&#8217;s up for the jury to decide &#8212; or, at least, it will be. Lupas elected to have the jurors come back Monday to begin their deliberations.</p><style>
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<div class="metaInfo"><subheadMeta>Nealy: I have to give Mo&#8217;s family &#8216;closure&#8217;</subheadMeta></div><div class="metaInfo"><bylineMeta><p>By Patrick Kernan</p><p>pkernan@www.timesleader.com</p></bylineMeta></div><div class="metaInfo"><shirttailMeta><p>Reach Patrick Kernan at 570-991-6386 or on Twitter @PatKernan</p></shirttailMeta></div>

Defendant accused of driving car in DJ Mo homicide claims no involvement in shooting