Key witness turns hostile in first day of Washington homicide trial
Man accused of fatally shooting Tennessee teen in 2022

A key witness in the July 2022 shooting that killed a teen in Washington refused to testify against the suspected gunman during the first day of Jarmil Carr’s homicide trial Tuesday and had to practically be dragged into the courtroom by sheriff’s deputies in order to appear.
Glendale Smith said he didn’t recall what happened since he claimed to be “high” on drugs when he told city police that he witnessed the shooting and later testified at a preliminary hearing accusing Carr of firing the multiple gunshots that killed 18-year-old Antonio Martinez during an argument outside a Jollick Manor apartment.
But Smith, who was shackled and wearing an orange prison jumpsuit since he’s incarcerated in the state prison system, refused to even enter the courtroom, prompting Washington County Court of Common Pleas Judge Valarie Costanzo to order him to come forward to the witness stand.
“He’s refusing,” a detective standing outside the courtroom told Costanzo.
“Tell him the judge says he must come into the courtroom,” Costanzo said.
“Refusing again, your honor,” the detective said.
Deputy District Attorney John Friedmann then told the sheriff’s deputies to bring him in “by force if necessary” in order to comply with the subpoena to testify. Deputies then escorted Smith to the stand, but it soon became clear that he would act as a hostile witness against the prosecution’s wishes.
“Y’all are forcing me to do this (expletive) I don’t want to do,” Smith said. “I’m (expletive) innocent.”
“If you show me respect, I’ll show you respect,” Costanzo told Smith.
Smith soon turned his ire toward Friedmann, who asked him questions about the shooting at the Jollick Manor housing plan in the early hours July 15, 2022, that left Martinez dead and led to Washington police charging Carr with homicide less than two weeks later.
“I was high,” Smith said of his mental state during the shooting. “I don’t remember.”
But that was a much different story than what he told at Carr’s preliminary hearing in October 2022, that the suspect and victim had gotten into an argument and fistfight that led to the shooting. Martinez, 18, of Clarksville, Tenn., died of gunshot wounds to his chest and elbow.
Smith claimed he was also high at that hearing despite being incarcerated, and he continued to berate Friedmann demanding that he be allowed to leave and go back to the state prison in Somerset where he is being held for an unrelated case.
“You’re trying to fry an innocent man. He had nothing to do with this,” Smith said. “You keep harassing me. I had nothing to do with this. I don’t know anything. This (expletive) is over. I’m done testifying. I gave you my respect and I’m ready to leave.”
But Friedmann pressed on, asking him detailed questions about the killing and his earlier statements to police, prompting Smith to stop talking altogether until prompted by Costanzo.
“Did you see who shot Mr. Martinez?” Friedmann asked.
“No, I don’t even know what you’re talking about. Can we be done? Can I go back to the penitentiary now?” Smith said. “(Carr) looks like a good person. He would not do this. Do we know each other?”
That prompted Friedmann to read portions of the transcript from the preliminary hearing in which Smith clearly implicated Carr in the shooting. During that hearing, Smith said he not only witnessed Carr firing at least three gunshots and running from the scene, he also cradled Martinez in his arms as the victim died.
“You just made all that up,” Smith said. “That’s the craziest stuff.”
In cross-examination by Carr’s defense attorney, Mark Adams, the witness denied writing a statement to police and claimed that investigators coerced him into identifying Carr as the shooter because police found him in possession of 33 stamp bags of heroin while he was on parole.
“They kept holding drugs over my head,” Smith said. “They did this whole story. They made it up.”
In testimony later in the day, Todd Foreman, a former city police detective who investigated the killing, said that Smith’s demeanor was “very different” Tuesday compared to his interview with police hours after the shooting, along with how he answered questions during the preliminary hearing. Foreman, who said they never charged Smith with drug violations since they were more concerned about his information about the killing, said Smith was cooperative and gave convincing statements about Carr’s alleged role in the shooting.
It’s not clear why Smith changed his story and refused to cooperate with the prosecution at trial. It’s also not known if other witnesses who saw the shooting will be compelled to testify since others at the scene apparently identified Carr as the gunman.
During opening statements earlier in the day, Friedmann said the fight precipitated the shooting when Martinez punched Carr.
“The facts of the matter are simple,” Friedmann said. “Jamil Carr brought a gun to a fistfight.”
Adams countered that there is more to the case than has been told, including inconsistent witness statements and DNA evidence found on a shell casing at the scene that apparently matches an unknown person.
“What the truth is might not be what the commonwealth is trying to prove,” Adams said.
Testimony will continue today with the prosecution expected to call ballistics experts to discuss the three shell casings found at the scene and the bullet fragment that was pulled from Martinez’s body during the autopsy.
Carr, 25, of McKeesport, has been held without bond at the Washington County jail since his arrest July 27, 2022, on charges of homicide and prohibited possession of a firearm.