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Jury finds 21-year-old Port Arthur man not guilty of October 2020 murder of Beaumont man

Christopher De'sean Mitchell, 21, was found not guilty in the death of Christopher Sellers, 24.

BEAUMONT, Texas — A jury has found a 21-year-old Port Arthur man not guilty in the 2020 murder of a 24-year-old Beaumont man Wednesday.

Christopher De'sean Mitchell, 21, of Port Arthur, was tried in Jefferson County's Criminal District Court for the October 2020 fatal shooting of Christopher Sellers, 24, of Beaumont.

If Mitchell was convicted of first degree felony murder, he would've faced from five to 99 years or life in prison.

On Wednesday, Beaumont Police Detective James Robichaux was called to the stand by the prosecution.

He testified that there were no witnesses at the scene who could identify the shooter when he arrived.  

He said it was difficult finding a camera that caught the murder on video because a hurricane had just passed through and power was out in the neighborhood. 

He testified that he did find one operating camera that caught the shooting and the video was then played in court.

Testimony began Tuesday afternoon before Judge John Stevens after a jury was selected in the morning.

In opening statements jurors were told by prosecutor Mike Laird that they would hear from a friend of the victim, Dontrelle Sutton, who would tell them that he and Sellers were walking to a store on Park St in October 2020.

Sutton will testify that he and Sellers heard "popping noises" and Seller began to run Laird told the jury.

Next Sutton will testify about waking up in a ditch after he and Sellers were shot Laird told jurors.

Another witness will tell the jury that he saw a man shoot the pair from a car as they walked along the road Laird said Tuesday afternoon.

Jurors will then hear a third witness testify that they heard Mitchell shout out, "I got one," after shooting Sellers according to Laird's opening statement.

When the defense took it's turn, attorney Ryan Gertz began his opening by telling jurors he anticipates what they will hear will not be as "clear cut" as what the prosecutor relayed to them.

Gertz told them the two witnesses near the vehicle will not identify Mitchell as the shooter.

He noted that jurors will hear witnesses claim there were two guns but there will be no evidence to support that theory.

The only two witnesses saying Mitchell shot Sellers have a reason to implicate his client Gertz said in his opening statement.

"They got a reason to tell the story they're telling," Gertz told the jury.

In October 2020 when Beaumont Police officers arrived on the scene of the murder they found the two men with gunshot wounds according to file stories.

Sellers was pronounced dead at the scene, and the other man was taken to the hospital, according to a Beaumont Police report at the time.

Preliminary investigations revealed at the time that a red, four door, sedan vehicle turned east onto Nolan Street when a suspect from the car started shooting at both victims who were walking along the side of the roadway. The suspect's vehicle then fled the scene, according to a Beaumont Police news release at the time of the shooting.

RELATED: Man dies, another injured after drive-by shooting in Beaumont's South End

This is a developing story. We will update with more if and when we receive more confirmed information.

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