Kensington man held for trial in triple homicide
Levi Almonte was passed out on the couch at a Kensington house party last month when his brother slapped him in the face to wake him up.
Levi Almonte was passed out on the couch at a Kensington house party last month when his brother slapped him in the face to wake him up.
When Almonte opened his eyes, he recalled Tuesday, he saw a startling sight: The party's host, James Elijah Dickson, was standing at the top of the steps with a shotgun, aiming it at a fellow guest below.
"When I woke up," Almonte said, "the shooting started, like, right away."
Almonte said he watched, stunned, as Dickson fired a slug into the head of their friend Kenneth Stowe, who was protecting his girlfriend at the bottom of the stairs.
And, he said, he saw Dickson run down to the first floor and shoot Edwin Laboy in the head in the dining room.
Almonte, 25, spokeduring Dickson's preliminary hearing Tuesday. Prosecutors have charged Dickson with killing three people and injuring two during the city's deadliest homicide incident this year.
Dickson, 46, who court records show has a long arrest record and a history of mental illness, was held for trial on all charges, including three counts of murder, two counts of attempted murder, and related assault and firearms offenses.
He sat without speaking or displaying emotion during the proceedings. His public defender, Wendy Ramos, declined to comment.
Families of two of the victims - Stowe, 46, and Christine Chromiak, 33 - filled the courtroom benches, occasionally sobbing or sighing as details were unveiled. Laboy also was 46.
Almonte's testimony provided the central pillar for Dickson's prosecution, led by Assistant District Attorney Andrew Notaristefano.
Almonte testified that five or six people had been hanging out at Dickson's house, in the 600 block of East Westmoreland Street, on the night of April 16. smoking marijuana and drinking beer.
At some point, Almonte said, Dickson began arguing with a cousin - identified in court only as "Snoop" - and Stowe, and ordered the men to leave, smacking "Snoop" in the face.
After that, Almonte said, he fell asleep. When he awoke, he said, he saw Dickson shoot Stowe and Laboy, then he escaped out the front door.
His brother Joel, 23, was hurt in the melee. Joel Almonte testified Tuesday that Dickson backed him into a corner in the kitchen after killing his first two victims. He said he knocked the gun from Dickson's hand, then ran past him and escaped through the front door.
As he sprinted away, Joel Almonte said, he heard Dickson regain control of the weapon and fire at Chromiak, who was huddled in another corner of the kitchen.
With his three victims dead on the floor, Dickson barricaded himself in the house, police said, surrendering around 5 a.m. the next day after being talked down by a 911 dispatcher.
After Tuesday's hearing, Dickson was returned to the Curran-Fromhold Correctional Facility to await trial.
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