Miguel Quinones still was deciding Thursday afternoon whether he would testify at his trial on murder and kidnapping charges.
Kanawha County prosecutors rested their case at about 3 p.m. Thursday. They had spent the past two days presenting evidence they believe will convince jurors that Quinones, 37, killed Kareem Hunter, 28, in 2013.
Prosecutors never called Kelsey Legg as a witness. Robert Dunlap, one of Quinones' lawyers, said Thursday that he planned to call Legg to take the stand Friday morning.
Legg originally had been charged with murder in Hunter's death, but she eventually made a deal with prosecutors and told them she had witnessed Quinones and Deveron Patterson beat the man. Legg agreed to testify against Quinones as part of her deal with prosecutors.
On Tuesday, Patterson took the stand and testified against Quinones, as his plea agreement called for. Patterson was sentenced to life in prison with the possibility of parole. He pleaded guilty to first-degree murder in Hunter's death.
Quinones was dating Patterson's cousin, Shawnique Harrison, who had also previously dated Hunter. Quinones thought Hudson and Hunter still were seeing each other and also believed Hunter was planning to rob him, prosecutors said.
Quinones asked Patterson to come to Kanawha County to help him in a fight with Hunter, according to prosecutors. Patterson and Quinones were waiting for Hunter when Legg picked Hunter up in Charleston and drove him to her apartment in Marmet.
One of Quinones' lawyers, Robert Dunlap, however, is trying to convince jurors that his client wasn't at Legg's apartment the night Hunter was beaten. Both Legg and Patterson have admitted that Quinones packed a mallet, Duct tape, zip ties and a gun, among other items, in a backpack he brought to Marmet.
According to prosecutors, Hunter was severely beaten, leaving large amounts of blood throughout the apartment, his hands, feet, face and mouth were bound and gagged, and he was placed in the trunk of Quinones' Cadillac. Patterson and Quinones then left Hunter's body in a shallow grave in Raleigh County, according to prosecutors.
Quinones admits helping Legg clean up her apartment, his attorney said Tuesday, during opening statements.
Prosecutors have called multiple witnesses who testified about Quinones participating in the cleanup. An employee of U-haul testified that Quinones rented a truck to remove furniture from Legg's apartment and a car dealer testified about Quinones trading in his Cadillac in the days following the killing.
The trial will continue today in Kanawha Circuit Judge Joanna Tabit's courtroom.
Reach Kate White at
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