FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. – A defense attorney for one of three suspects accused of killing a Broward sheriff's deputy in 2006 questioned the testimony Friday of his client's ex-girlfriend.
Police said Shante Spencer was driving a vehicle Nov. 12, 2006, with her boyfriend Eloyn Ingraham, 28, riding in the front passenger seat when they were pulled over by Deputy Brian Tephford.
Spencer had a difficult time explaining some of her testimony and admitted that she lied to detectives during the investigation, including on the night of the shooting when she gave deputies a fake name for her boyfriend.
"Wouldn't you agree with me that your memory was better on the night that it occurred than when you talked to the state a year later?" the attorney asked.
"Probably so," Spencer said.
"OK, so when you testified today that you may have been out of the car before the shooting ended, would you rely on your memory of that day or would you relay on your memory of what occurred a year later and now what you're saying today?" the attorney asked.
"Probably the night I was there," Spencer said while shrugging her shoulders.
Ingraham, Bernard Forbes, 31, and Andre Delancy, 29, are on trial for the murder of Tephford and the attempted murder of Deputy Corey Carbocci.
Authorities said Tephford, a six-year BSO veteran and father of three, was 34 years old when he was fatally shot during a traffic stop outside the Versailles Gardens apartment complex in Tamarac.
Detectives said Ingraham called Forbes and Delancy, who they said snuck up on the deputies and opened fire.
Tephford was shot twice.
Carbocci, who was injured and survived the shooting, is expected to testify during the trial.
All three defendants face the death penalty is they are convicted.