The trial for two of three young men accused of shooting and killing 18-year-old Corey Mumford in Laurel in April 2023 began Tuesday.

Sussex County Superior Court Judge Francis Jones is presiding over the bench trial of 28-year-old Jhalir Henry of Delmar and 29-year-old Donregus Holland of Hurlock, Maryland, both of whom face charges of first-degree murder and other offenses.

The trial is expected to take about three weeks. A third person charged in Mumford’s killing, 22-year-old Shyheem Latham-Purnell of Laurel, will be tried separately.

Last year was a particularly violent one for the small town of Laurel in western Sussex County. In 2023, three people were killed and nine people were wounded in shootings there. In November, Gov. John Carney attended a town hall-style meeting to address the rise in shooting deaths in Laurel.

So far this year, one person has been killed and four wounded in shootings in Laurel.

What happened on the first day of the trial

Deputy Attorney General Amanda Nyman described the day of Mumford’s killing in her opening argument.

Laurel School District students were on spring break Friday, April 14, she said. Mumford was a senior at Laurel High School, weeks away from graduating.

“No one expected that pleasant spring day to turn out like it did,” Nyman said. “This murder shook Corey’s family and the entire community.”

Mumford, a 6-foot-6 basketball player, was walking with friends in the Wexford Village apartment complex when the shooting began, around 2:40 p.m. He was not the intended target, police have said, but he was struck nine times, Nyman said at trial. (Police originally said Mumford was shot eight times.)

Police collected 22 spent shell casings at the scene, Nyman said, which a firearms expert will testify came from three guns: two .40-calibers and one 9 mm. Bullets collected during the autopsy were from the 9 mm, according to Nyman.

“It’s clear that only one firearm killed Mumford,” Henry’s attorney, Patrick Collins, said. Henry “adamantly and vehemently” denies he was at Wexford Village that day, Collins added.

The case will come down to witness testimony, Collins said, and those witnesses will contradict both each other and themselves. The three main witnesses also have credibility issues, Natalie Woloshin, Holland’s attorney, contributed.

There were no working surveillance cameras at Wexford Village the day of Mumford’s death, Nyman said, but footage from various other places throughout town will be shown as evidence.

The motive for the shooting appears to remain unknown.

“There are lingering questions about why this happened,” Nyman said.

Mumford’s grandmother was the first and the only person to testify on the first day the trial. She said her grandson was at her Gibson Street house the morning of the shooting, hanging out with his cousin. When they left her home shortly after noon, she didn’t ask where they were going. Mumford told her he loved her and he’d see her later, she said.

Later, the grandmother heard gunshots, and after a few minutes, Mumford’s cousin came running into the house.

“He said, ‘Mommom, Corey got shot!’ He was screaming and hysterical,’” the grandmother said. She wiped away tears as she testified.

Mumford’s parents attended the first day of the trial, as well. His mother, Tesha Horsey, spoke to a reporter as she left the courthouse.

“We just want justice served,” she said.

Shannon Marvel McNaught reports on southern Delaware and beyond. Reach her at smcnaught@gannett.com or on Twitter @MarvelMcNaught.

This article originally appeared on Delaware News Journal: Witness testimonies will be key in trial of 2 accused in Laurel murder