Brits Shot In 'Botched Robbery' - Sky News

Teen Shawn Tyson enters court on the third day of his double murder trial

3:10am UK, Tuesday March 27, 2012

A British tourist cried for his life after watching his friend being shot dead - only to be gunned down himself, a court has heard.

Shawn Tyson, 17, is accused of the first-degree murder of James Kouzaris, 24, and James Cooper, 25 in a rundown area of Sarasota in 2011.

He allegedly told a friend that he tried to rob them, but when they did not have any money, he shot one first, then the other.

Witness Jermaine Bane picks out the type of gun allegedly used by Tyson

Latrece Washington said Tyson told her he told the men that since they did not have any money, he had "something for your ass".

Mr Kouzaris, from Northampton, and Mr Cooper, from Hampton Lucy, Warwick, were gunned down after they drunkenly walked into a notorious neighbourhood known as The Courts.

They were found shirtless with their trousers round their thighs, but both still had their wallets and a small amount of money on them.

Ms Washington, now 18, told the court that on April 16 last year, just hours after the killings, Tyson told her he had shot the men.

She said: "He was like, 'last night around 3am, there was two guys walking and it looked like they were going in people's cars.

James Cooper (l) and James Kouzaris entered a rundown area

"He said that they were going to rob them and they were drunk.

"He said, 'well since you ain't got no money, I got something for your ass'.

"That's when he was like he shot one of them in the side and one of them fell instantly and then the other one was crying for his life, and he shot him and emptied the clip in him."

Ms Washington, who was not given a plea deal to testify, said she had seen Tyson previously with a gun.

Another witness, 25-year-old Joshua Bane, avoided a 10-year prison term by agreeing to testify against Tyson.

He said Tyson regularly flashed a .22-calibre handgun at people in the neighbourhood.

Both Britons were killed by bullets fired from a weapon of the same calibre.

Bane told the court that after the shootings he and a friend filed off the pistol's serial number and the sold it for $50 (£35) to buy marijuana.