Assistant Attorney General Randall White asks defendant Marquise Jones about a letter he wrote when he was in the ACI.

The Providence Journal / Frieda Squires

PROVIDENCE — “I got shot. …

“I’m on Elmwood Avenue. I’m driving to Rhode Island Hospital.”

The voice was excited, even panicky, on the recording of a distress call to 911.

“Some young kids from Chad Brown. Listen to me. I got shot in the head. Some young kids from Chad Brown just shoot [sic] at my car. They have a Pennsylvania plate. It’s a Camry … 19, ah, 2005 … what’s the kid’s name? What’s their nickname …”

A passenger’s voice is audible on the recording.

“Marquise. Marquise Perry.”

That recording from Dec. 7, 2004, is a key piece of evidence in the murder case against Marquise Jones, 21, of Providence, which is about to be handed over to a Superior Court jury. Jones is accused of driving a stolen car from which shots were fired into another car on the Elmwood Avenue off-ramp from Route 95 southbound, fatally wounding Brian Davis, 17, also of Providence.

Evidence in the trial, which is in its second week, shows that Marquise Jones is the son of Stacey Perry, a resident of the Chad Brown public housing complex in Providence. Prosecutors from the office of Attorney General Patrick C. Lynch contend that Marquise Jones and Marquise Perry are the same person.

The primary voice on the recording, which was played for the jury, is that of Malcolm Pulliam, who was then 29, whose passengers were Davis and Channing Oliver, 19. The second voice was that of Oliver, who knew the defendant from the days when they were growing up together at the Wiggin Village housing complex.

“The kid in the back seat, I think he’s dead. I’m not sure,” Pulliam told the emergency dispatcher that night. “The bullet grazed my head …”

Jones is being tried for murder and five other charges, although he is not accused of actually pulling a trigger. Also indicted are the alleged shooters and Jones’ alleged passengers, Robert Crowell and Montrel Daniels, also Providence residents, who are to be tried separately.

The prosecution has suggested the motive was revenge through the testimony of Donald Barnes, a convict and an erstwhile friend of Jones’, who said he was violating the neighborhood code of silence by testifying. Barnes told the jury that Crowell was angry with Davis because Davis was present or perhaps involved when Crowell was beaten up outside a KFC restaurant.

According to trial evidence, Pulliam was driving on Route 95 when another car drew near and apparently began to harass his in some manner. Pulliam took the Elmwood Avenue exit and stopped for a traffic light at the bottom of the off-ramp.

The car allegedly driven by Jones pulled abreast and shots were fired from a .44-caliber Ruger Redhawk revolver and a sawed-off .22-caliber Ruger rifle, according to testimony. Davis was hit three times, including a fatal wound to his skull, and Pulliam and Oliver once each. Davis died two days later at Rhode Island Hospital.

Jones and his sister-in-law Chandra Fields, 23, said that he was playing video games in Fields’ apartment on Admiral Street at the time of the slaying.

A soft-spoken Jones took the witness stand in his own defense for more than three hours yesterday. Dressed in a white shirt, yellow tie, tan slacks and brown shoes, he answered questions calmly and deliberately as six or seven relatives and friends listened from the spectator gallery.

After having been arrested by federal marshals in March 2005 in Charlotte, N.C., where he fled after Davis’ slaying, Jones was held without bail at the Adult Correctional Institutions. He finally made bail last March, works at a printing company and lives with Fields and his niece and nephew at 37 Harold St.

He was called to the stand by his court-appointed lawyer, Russell Sollitto, who closed his questioning with a direct question and a quick reference to Jones’ single criminal conviction as an adult.

“Were you the driver of the car” from which the fatal shots were fired, Sollitto asked.

“No, I wasn’t,” Jones answered.

Did he have anything to do with the crime at all, Sollitto asked.

No, was the response.

Jones testified under cross-examination that his accusers are mistaken or, for an unknown reason, lying.

His criminal record consists of a conviction for drug possession in 2004, on which he was sentenced to serve 60 days in prison with 22 months suspended.

Barnes testified earlier that he was with the defendants before the shooting and afterward, and Jones admitted that he hid in Barnes’ apartment for a time after the slaying to avoid the police. Barnes said Daniels had the Ruger Redhawk with him when they were together after the slaying and that Crowell admitted in his presence that he had used the rifle in the crime.

Sollitto sought to undermine Barnes’ credibility by pointing out that Barnes has entered into a plea agreement with Lynch’s office in which he would receive lenient treatment regarding another criminal case. Barnes, who is in prison, acknowledged the deal but said it hinged on his truthful testimony.

Judge Robert D. Krause, who oversees the so-called gun court, is presiding over the trial. He told jurors yesterday that they should expect to receive the case today.

gsmith@projo.com