Testimony begins in Scott trial
By Staff
Melissa Cason
Franklin County District Attorney Joey Rushing began building his 'brick wall' of evidence against Christie Michelle Scott, 32, of 180 Signore Drive in Russellville, as testimony in the trial began Friday morning.
The state's first witness was Scott's neighbor, Jennifer Davidson.
Davidson testified that Scott came to her door in the early morning hours of Aug. 16, and told her to call 911 because her house was on fire.
"She just screamed," Davidson said on the stand about Scott's demeanor the night of the fire. "She just seemed more nervous. She wasn't out of breath as she had been running. No crying, only screaming."
Davidson said she immediately ran to her kitchen and called 911. However, she did not know there was a child in the house until she returned to her front door where Scott and her younger son, Noah, were standing.
When Davidson returned, Scott was screaming that her 'baby' was in the house. Davidson said she then called 911 again to inform them a child was in the burning house.
Davidson said when she returned to the room, her boyfriend, Brian Copeland, and Scott had returned to the house in order to try to get Mason out of the house.
Davidson said she got her children to sit with Noah and followed them to the Scott house.
"When I ran out of the front door, I saw flames," Davidson said. "She [Scott] was screaming Mason's name."
Davidson testified that she could see the fire spreading.
Police Officer Brian Shackelford was the first on the scene that night. Davidson said Shackelford and Copeland tried to gain entrance into the house in order to get Mason out, but were unsuccessful because of the heat, smoke and flames.
Davidson testified that Scott told her not to call her husband, Jeremy, who was out of town on a business trip. Davidson said Scott expressed fear that Jeremy would blame her or hurt himself.
Davidson also testified that she held Noah after returning to her home and he did not smell of smoke.
During cross-examination by defense attorney Robert Tuten, Davidson said the fire was too hot and smoky for anyone to gain access into the home.
911 administrator Brandon James was called to the stand next to give exact times the 911 calls were made.
James said the first call was made at 2:33:17 a.m. and the second call came in at 2:35:48 a.m.
The state also called the emergency medical personnel on the scene to describe the actions of Scott during the fire.
Emergency Medical Technical and Franklin County Coroner Elzie Malone testified that Scott did had something on her hands but no other burns or marks from the fire.
"She kept saying 'how am I going to tell Jeremy I let his baby die?" Malone said.
Malone said the way she formed the question, it made it seem like Mason was her stepchild.
The state brought in a teacher from West Elementary School, Beth Forsythe, who had seen an incident between Mason and Scott the day before the fire.
Forsythe said she was working early morning duty, when she saw Scott and Mason walking in the crosswalk. She said Mason did not want to go to school, and she saw Scott push the child in order to get him to go to school.
"It was a forceful push, but not abusive," Forsythe said.
Tuten uncovered that Mason was holding up traffic in the crosswalk, which could be the reason Scott was so forceful with Mason to get him to cross the street.
During cross-examination, Forsythe said it was not uncommon for children to not want to go to school, especially during the adjustment period.
Other than the one encounter, Forsythe had no personal interaction with Mason. However, Forsythe was concerned enough to mention the incident to another teacher.
Fire Marshal Bobby Malone testified about his observations at the fire, laying the groundwork for the investigation evidence to be later introduced.
Testimony in the trial will continue at 8:30 a.m. Monday at the Franklin County Courthouse.
