Vernon Reeves was upstairs with his girlfriend when she heard “fireworks.”

When Kenneth Burns walked up, knocked on his door and then the men went back downstairs, Andre White, 39, appeared to be slumped over, shot dead.

Why did you do that, he asked. “Because he talked too much,” Reeves recalled Burns said.

Burns, 52, is on trial this week, charged in White’s June 8, 2022, slaying. He has pleaded not guilty. Judge Salvador Vasquez is presiding.

Deputy Prosecutor Milana Petersen said in opening statements Tuesday that police found White’s blood and DNA in the back of Burns’ vehicle. She noted Burns’ family called the police for a welfare check on June 19. He was found hiding in an abandoned house when he was arrested on June 29, she said.

In his first jail call, he said, “Well, they got me,” she said.

Defense lawyer Scott King said the case hinged on Reeves’ testimony, who was renting a room from Burns at the time. He later questioned his credibility on the stand. Police didn’t go to the crime scene for “eight days,” King said. They figured things could have been moved around.

Every homicide case he defended usually had things like diagrams, photos, sometimes video from the crime scene.

“In this case, nothing,” King said.

Court records indicate the shooting happened at the house in the 2600 block of West 17th Avenue, while White’s body was found in the 4800 block of West 21st Avenue.

After the shooting, Reeves asked if Burns would kill him too. He refused to help Burns carry the body. Instead, Reeves suggested, they and the woman go to the liquor store.

“I was scared,” Reeves said.

Afterward, he told Burns to drop them off at a relative’s house. He soon called the police. He hadn’t really spoken to Burns since.

Deputy Prosecutor Jacquelyn Altpeter asked how he felt testifying.

“I feel like he (should) be in jail because he did it,” Reeves said. “He dirty.”

In his opening statements, King alleged everyone there drank heavily at the time. Reeves testified they were drinking that day, while he was fixing Burns’ silver Dodge Durango at another relative’s house.

“If he doesn’t get convicted, police might look at you,” King told Reeves on the stand.

Prosecutors objected. It was sustained.

King questioned Reeves on details he told police, like who heard the shots. Reeves clarified his girlfriend realized it was multiple shots. He thought it was fireworks.

King later brought up that Reeves previously dated White’s relative. The lawyer said Reeves was arrested in Indianapolis with the woman on May 22, 2022, for a battery call. Court records do not show charges were filed.

Reeves said they got into an argument. He and White were “best friends” and White never brought it up.

Police were called in the morning of June 8, 2022, to the 4800 block of West 21st Avenue in Gary. White was found lying face down with gunshot wounds in the face and neck “in a grassy area,” according to an affidavit and a police release. He appeared to have been set on fire.

The cause of death was multiple gunshots, according to the Lake County Coroner’s Office.

A witness told police he heard “several gunshots” inside White’s home, then saw him leaning forward against a black chair with Burns holding a gun, the affidavit alleges.

White was “talking (expletive),” when the witness asked why he was shot, Burns said, according to criminal charges.

Police later found latent blood stains in Burns’ Dodge Durango, which had the back seats folded down, documents allege. A security video appeared to show an “older” Durango, the only vehicle driving south on Clark Road in the area where White’s body was later found, police said.

mcolias @post-trib.com