BAY MINETTE, Ala. (WALA) – Testimony continued Wednesday, November 13, 2024 n the Travis Lofton murder trial in Bay Minette. Lofton is accused of shooting and killing Jason Mallette, manager of Taziki’s Mediterranean Café in June of last 2023. Data retrieved from what prosecutors said were Lofton’s and his wife’s cell phones along with security camera footage were presented to the jury Wednesday.
Prosecutors believe the phone data proves Travis Lofton was planning the crime and that recorded phone conversations with a Daphne Police dispatcher the day before back it up. More key evidence was in the form of security camera recordings of what investigators said is Lofton’s truck at the scene of the shooting and then leaving town on Hwy. 98 near I-10.
A day earlier, prosecutors told the jury Lofton committed the crime after his wife falsely claimed to have been raped by Mallette. Wednesday, they watched and listened to a bodycam recording from one of the first responding officers who tried to aid Mallette. The video played for several minutes as the officer attempted to stop the bleeding and performed CPR. Some of Mallette’s family sat with their heads down, not able to watch.
They then heard testimony from a digital forensics examiner who explained how she was able to pull information from a phone found at the crime scene and link it to Travis Lofton. The phone revealed text messages and phone calls prosecutors said were between Lofton and his wife, leading up to the shooting around 5:30 a.m. on the morning of June 29, 2023.
Jurors then heard recordings of phone calls made by Travis Lofton to Daphne Police Dispatch the day before the murder, asking for help reporting a sexual assault against his wife. At one point, Lofton can be heard saying, “I feel like if I don’t go this route, then y’all will be coming to pick me up.” That was less than 24-hours before Mallette was shot in the chest at point-blank range.
The prosecution continued with testimony from the Medical Examiner, Crime Scene Investigator and the owner of a nearby jewelry store whose security cameras caught what investigators said is Lofton’s pickup at the scene. That video caught the license plate number. When cross-referenced with the phone that was found at the scene, they both belonged to Lofton.
We’ve not heard from Lofton’s wife, a coworker who witnessed the shooting or Travis Lofton himself. His attorneys haven’t said if they plan to put him on the stand. The prosecution has only a few witnesses left to call so the defense should get the case sometime Thursday.
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