A trial for three suspects over a Dauphin County shooting that grievously injured two children in 2022 took a surprise turn Friday when one of the defendants confessed on the stand.
After initially declining to testify in his own defense, Kani Little, 27, decided Friday to take responsibility for his role in the retaliatory shooting that injured two kids, ages 4 and 6 instead of the intended target, according to his attorney John Glace.
The shooting happened 11:50 p.m. Aug. 11, 2022, in the 4900 block of Cumberland Street in Swatara Township.
Little asked Glace to put him on the stand as a rebuttal witness, where he surprised dozens of courtroom onlookers by pleading guilty and implicating one of his co-defendants who had testified against him Thursday afternoon and Friday morning.
Brianna Smith, 27, told jurors she was only with the group at the shooting scene because Little kidnapped her and forced her to go. Glace elicited on cross-examination that she was left alone in the car at times to try to undercut her testimony.
Either way, the testimony pushed Little over the edge to plead guilty, Glace said, because of the weight of the evidence against him, to push back against Smith’s testimony and to express remorse for the shooting that hurt innocent children.
The plea was not part of any deal, said Katie Adam, who prosecuted the case. She said the number of times a defendant had confessed on the stand in her career was “never.”
Glace agreed it was highly unusual.
“It was his choice,” Glace said. “He was upset about the situation and charges and wanted to acknowledge his guilt.”
Little pleaded guilty to all charges, including attempted first-degree murder, aggravated assault and other charges that could carry a combined prison term of up to 200 years. He will be sentenced at a later date and remains in jail.
Little’s testified that Fritz Volcy and another man had robbed him at gunpoint Aug. 11, 2022 when he was on a date at a winery, stealing his bag containing cash, and a cellphone.
He then wanted to retaliate.
Little rounded up some friends and found the mother of one of Volcy’s children, Brianna Smith, to find out where Volcy lived, according to testimony. Both Little and Smith were mad at Volcy for different reasons.
The group followed Smith’s directions to get to a home where Volcy had recently moved in with his sister and her kids, Little testified. Someone knocked on the door and at least two people opened fire into the door and windows, leaving two dozen shell casings.
Adam said prosecutors believe three people fired guns that night.
A young girl peering out of a window to see who was knocking was shot and nearly died on the operating room table, according to testimony. She and the other child survived.
A few weeks later, police arrested Darrell Henderson-Baylor in connection with the shooting.
A few weeks after that, police charged Little, Smith and Michael Roberts, who were 25, 24, and 28 at the time. Police also charged Volcy in connection with the reported robbery at the winery.
Henderson-Baylor pleaded guilty last year and testified this week against Little, Smith and Roberts.
It was not established at trial who fired guns that night. Police found 25 shell casings, from at least two different guns.
As part of the police investigation, officers dredged Italian Lake in uptown Harrisburg and found one of the guns believed to have been used in the crime.
While Little testified that he, Smith and Henderson-Baylor committed the crime together, he did not implicate Roberts, whose attorney said Roberts was not part of the shooting.
After that, attorneys delivered closing arguments and the jury started deliberating just before 3 p.m. on the charges against Smith and Roberts. Jurors returned a verdict of guilty on all charges for both before 6:30 p.m. Friday.
Incidentally, Volcy and a woman were charged in April with third-degree murder after their 1-year-old daughter died of a fentanyl overdose at a home in Steelton.
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