The long-awaited trial against Ammar Harris finally began Thursday. The state and the defense both gave their opening statements in the trial against the man accused of causing a fiery crash on the strip and killing three people.
It was a packed room for day one of the trial. Family and friends of the victims filled up the back row of the courtroom. Many of them were in tears before things even got started.
It was an emotional day for them as they prepared to see never before seen video of the crash on the strip that happened more than two years ago.
Deputy Prosecutor David Stanton took about an hour o give the state's opening statement. He broke down the night back in 2013 that he says Ammar killed three people. We saw surveillance video and taxi cab video of the moments leading up to the explosion and crash, including the moment the ball of fire erupted on the strip.
The state ended their opening statement by showing us pictures of the three victims.
"There is only one person that is responsible for their death. Their intentional, premeditated and deliberate death. He has a name. He has a face. And it's Ammar Harris," said Deputy Prosecutor David Stanton.
The defense delivered their opening statement in about 15 minutes. One of their tactics during trial will be to say Ammar Harris was using self defense. Harris's attorney went on to say the entire incident was a "tragedy but not murder".
The first witness also took the stand Thursday. It was a Metro detective who broke down surveillance video for us from the night of the killings. Later in the trial, we can expect to hear from some key witnesses who watched the whole incident go down.
