The words came out without hesitation or doubt.
The victim took the stand Tuesday in Johnson County Superior Court 2, testifying against Darius Birk, the Greenwood man who is charged with attempted murder in her shooting in 2021. As she recounted the events leading up to the shooting, she described an escalating fight.
Birk eventually pulled out his gun, cocked it, then told her he should shoot her, the victim said.
Then, he fired the gun, she said.
Her testimony was the key point in the initial day of Birk’s trial. The prosecution and defense delivered opening statements in the trial. Birk is also charged with aggravated battery, pointing a firearm at another and carrying a handgun without a license.
Prosecutors addressed the jury, explaining how they intended to show that Birk threatened to kill the victim before shooting her in the face.
“The only reason (she) is alive today is that she was moving, trying to get away from him,” said Brianna Acker, deputy prosecuting attorney for the Johnson County Prosecutor’s Office.
But defense attorney Andrew Baldwin painted a different picture — one in which Birk was on the verge of breaking up with the victim, and the shooting was a tragic accident.
“You’re not going to know — certainly not beyond a reasonable doubt — what happened in the car that day,” Baldwin said.
Birk and the victim were riding together in a van on Park Drive in Greenwood on March 13, 2021, when the shooting occurred, according to the probable cause affidavit. The victim, who was driving the van, was shot once in the face, resulting in extensive facial damage that she is still recovering from today.
Prosecutors said the shooting stemmed from Birk’s anger that he could not use the victims’ stimulus money to purchase a gun. Prior to the shooting, witnesses heard Birk yell that he’d kill her, and he smashed her phone during the argument, Acker said.
Afterwards, Birk drove her to Community Hospital South, where he dropped her off before trying to drive away and refusing to answer any questions from doctors or police, she said.
“There are a lot of moving parts in this case,” Acker said.
Baldwin also emphasized the complexity of the case, and the questions that have not been answered adequately. He provided Birk’s account of the shooting, framing the argument between the two as the victims’ anger that he was planning to break up with her. Her slamming on the brakes is what caused the gun to be discharged, he said.
This was an “accident,” he said, referencing two separate occasions where the victim had used that term to describe the shooting to police.
Birk did irresponsibly have a gun, and he was reckless with it, but this was not an intentional act of attempted murder, Baldwin said.
“When one person acts recklessly with a gun, and another acts recklessly with a car, bad, terrible things can happen,” he said.
Throughout the morning and into the afternoon, prosecutors brought up a series of witnesses who testified about the moments surrounding the shooting. Residents of Park Drive described what they heard and saw, including hearing gun shots and a woman scream. They described the van that passed through the neighborhood, and what direction it headed after the shooting.
The victim testified for about an hour, meticulously outlining her relationship with Birk and how the day of the shooting unfolded. She and Birk had been dating for a few months, and had reached the point of opening a joint bank account so they could save money and eventually get a place to live in together.
But she also described how near the end of the relationship, Birk had changed.
“He got really controlling, going through my phone, questioning where I was going,” she said.
The victim described the arguments that unfolded before the shooting, and testified about the moments just prior to and following being shot. She recalled being driven to Community Hospital South by Birk.
“I was trying to keep my eyes open, blood was pouring from my mouth, and I just told him to take me to the hospital,” she said.
On cross-examination, Baldwin also recounted the details of March 13, including their argument over money. He also went through testimony she made Tuesday compared to her earlier deposition.
When Baldwin asked pointedly if what had happened was an “accident,” the victim was adamant — “No, it was not,” she said.
The trial continues today.
