Former Cal Football Player Testifies in 2005 Shooting Case

A Dartmouth College student fatally shot during an argument with several Cal football players in 2005 had called the man who ended up shooting her and told him to "get over here and bring your pistol," a former player testified yesterday.

Joseph Crenshaw's testimony came in the fifth day of the trial of Christopher Hollis, 24, on charges that he murdered his close friend Meleia Willis-Starbuck on College Avenue in the early morning hours of July 17, 2005.

Hollis has admitted to firing four or five shots into a crowd outside Unit 2 after responding to Willis-Starbuck's repeated calls for help. One of the bullets struck Willis-Starbuck, killing her almost instantly.

Hollis' attorney has asked jurors to return a verdict of manslaughter, which would spare him a life sentence.

Crenshaw, wearing a Cal athletics sweatshirt, downplayed the confrontation yesterday, saying the players were already apologizing when a shot killed Willis-Starbuck.

He rapidly recounted that he and five teammates had been chatting with Willis-Starbuck and four of her friends in the Unit 2 courtyard as a party was winding down.

One of the women complained to Crenshaw that former Cal football player David Gray called her friend "Chewbacca," the hairy character from the Star Wars movies, Crenshaw said.

The two groups got into a "shouting match" as they walked to their cars on the east side of College, Crenshaw said.

But shortly after Gray and another man got in their car, they returned and apologized to the women, he said.

About that time, Willis-Starbuck told Hollis to bring his gun, he said. Crenshaw said he believed she was only pretending to call for backup so the men would leave.

"To this day I am mad at myself that I dismissed it," Crenshaw said. "It seemed like it was a hoax to get us to leave."

To prove Hollis is guilty of manslaughter instead of the more severe charge of murder, Assistant Public Defender Greg Syren must show that Hollis shot to scare the men away from Willis-Starbuck's apartment on College.

Crenshaw lent support to that theory by testifying that before he ran away he saw the gunman standing near the corner of Dwight and College with his arm pointed into the air above his head at about an 80-degree angle.

Other witnesses have said the shooter's arm was parallel to the ground.

Under cross-examination by prosecutor Elgin Lowe, Crenshaw said that none of the players had weapons or threatened the women or Hollis.

Crenshaw also said that contrary to one woman's testimony, none of the players ever touched the women.

Jurors also heard from 23-year-old Perry Kramer, who is a mutual friend of Hollis, Willis-Starbuck and Christopher Wilson, who has admitted to driving Hollis to and from the scene.

Kramer said she had gone to two parties in North Berkeley with Hollis and Wilson that night. At the second party, Hollis and Wilson told Kramer they had to go check on Willis-Starbuck, and they all got into Wilson's car, she said.

Then, as Hollis was looking through a pile of clothes on the backseat, he told Kramer she should get out of the car without explaining why, Kramer said.

Kramer got out and returned to the party. She called Willis-Starbuck at 1:40 a.m. to tell her Wilson and Hollis were coming to her aid, she said.

Kramer described Willis-Starbuck's tone as "frantic," and said she heard shouting in the background.

Panelists jotted notes and asked several questions of the witnesses throughout the day.

Attorneys could begin closing arguments as early as Wednesday.

Tags: CAL FOOTBALL, MELEIA WILLIS-STARBUCK, CHRISTOPHER HOLLIS