Port Arthur trial: prosecutor shows bodycam, knife and recorded statement as evidence in killing of Chadwick Lanes

PORT ARTHUR, Texas — Prosecutors on March 11, 2022, told jurors at the 252nd District Court that evidence including police body‑worn camera video, scene photographs and a knife recovered from a kitchen drying rack link Ahmad Jamal Akron to the fatal stabbing of Chadwick Jermaine Lanes, and they played a recorded interview in which, according to investigators, Akron acknowledged the attack.

In opening statements, the prosecutor said the defendant told investigators, “I was upset. I shouldn’t have done what I did. It shouldn’t have gone that far,” and said the state would present recorded interviews and bodycam footage to support its case. The defense asked jurors to withhold judgment until all evidence is heard; Akron entered a plea of not guilty when arraigned before the jury.

The state introduced multiple items into evidence. Port Arthur police officer Christian Villasana testified that he responded to a dispatch to 827 Stilwell Boulevard and found the victim on the front lawn with an…