CLEVELAND — Jurors in the high-profile murder trial of Tamara McLoyd on Tuesday viewed surveillance video of the moment Cleveland police officer Shane Bartek is shot.
The jury panel also heard emotional testimony by a Cleveland police detective and close friend of Bartek.
Tuesday was day two of the trial of 18-year-old McLoyd. She’s accused of killing Bartek, who was off-duty, during a carjacking last New Year’s Eve.
“It was horrible,” said Cleveland Police Detective Jake Simonelli.
Simonelli was called to the witness stand to testify about the shooting he was called out to on December 31, 2021. He described the moment he viewed surveillance video and later realized it was his longtime friend, Bartek, who was shot.
The video is a key piece of evidence in McLoyd’s trial that started Monday with jury selection and opening statements.
“It hit close to home this time because I knew Shane,” Simonelli said.
News 5 is watching the trial from an overflow room where, at one point, at least eight Cleveland police officers sat in and listened.
McLoyd appeared to be paying close attention in the courtroom.
Simonelli was the prosecution’s fourth witness to testify. He’s in a specialized unit that investigates violent felonies like shootings.
Simonelli testified Bartek’s case was his first experience with a matter that is personal.
“At first I broke down and a couple detectives helped me out,” said Simonelli.
Prosecutors showed jurors a minute and a half surveillance video from the Cross Creek apartment complex. You see someone running up behind Bartek as he walks in the parking lot.
It appears Bartek tussled with the person, and then the two ran in opposite directions.
Another clip, during medical examiner testimony, shows a closer shot of a gun going off.
“When the staff member of the apartment made kind of a comment, 'That looks like Shane,' it immediately — I comprehended that I’ve known Shane for a long time before we became police officers. The second I heard his name it just hit me that Shane was dead,” said Simonelli.
Simonelli testified his first inclination when he got to the scene was to find any surveillance video, calling it high priority.
“After comprehending what just happened I took a few minutes and consoled my mind. My coworkers became, 'Let’s go, let’s go find who did this,'” said Simonelli.
The trial covers two separate cases, the deadly carjacking of Bartek, and when a man had his car stolen at gunpoint six days earlier at the same complex on Christmas Day.
That man was approached by two people and testified he gave up his keys fearing for his life.
Prosecutors are trying to link the cases together by the type of gun.
Testimony is expected to resume Wednesday.
View continuing coverage of the death of officer Shane Bartek here.
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