BALTIMORE (AP) - Prosecutors in the murder trial of a Baltimore man accused of killing a North Carolina teenager said in opening statements they have a witness who says he saw the young woman's body.
Defense lawyers for 28-year-old Michael Maurice Johnson, who is accused of killing 16-year-old Phylicia Barnes, dismissed the potential witness as a jailhouse snitch.
Opening statements were made in the trial Friday after three days of jury selection. Barnes, from Monroe, N.C., disappeared while visiting Baltimore for the 2010 Christmas holidays. Her body was found in the Susquehanna River months later.
Prosecutors say Johnson killed Barnes in her sister's apartment and then used a 35-gallon tub to move the body. Johnson's lawyers have said there is no DNA evidence linking him to the crime.
The trial will resume Monday.
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