DETROIT – It was a packed courtroom Friday with family members from both sides.
Those who knew the victim wept openly as portions of a 911 call were played in court. A woman called to report a body.
Jerome Moore, 26, is charged with first degree murder. He is accused of killing 23-year-old Cynthia Worthy. Prosecutors allege the pair first connected on the social media site Backpage.com. Cellphone records indicate they contacted each other on Aug. 15.
"He is calling her. She's coming to his house. We know that she is at some point in his house because her blood is in his basement," said prosecutor Christina Guirguis.
Worthy was found dead two days later in an alley on Detroit's west side. She was stabbed once in the chest. Investigators found her vehicle parked a block away from the Moore's home in Oak Park.
"It is impossible to determine within which county the offense occurred," said Guirguis.
Prosecutors say cadaver dogs found the victim's DNA inside Moore's bedroom, on his shoes, in the basement and in the trunk of his car.
"That means that she was still bleeding when she was in the car. We don't know if she died at the Oak Park house or if she died as she was being transported in the vehicle," said Guirguis.
Defense attorney Bill Winters said the evidence against Moore is circumstantial.
"Not only do they not know when the crime was committed, they don't know where the crime was committed," said Winters. "We're going to give the jury something to think about with regard to some of these other folks that potentially are involved."
Part of the evidence recovered from that Oak Park home was a condom found in the garbage in the backyard. There was a DNA match for both the victim and the defendant.
Moore is back in court Nov. 13. His defense attorney said stand by for a Perry Mason moment -- evidence that will stop this trial in its tracks.