A jury heard Olivia Pratt-Korbel, age 9, scream “Mum, I’m scared” before being fatally shot in her home.
She was on the steps behind her mother when alleged gunman Thomas Cashman shot her in the chest.
Olivia had been startled out of bed after hearing a disturbance outside their Dovecot, Liverpool, residence.
Mr. Cashman, 34, was purportedly in pursuit of intended target Joseph Nee.
He asserts that he was not the shooter.
David McLachlan KC stated in his opening statement that the individual pursuing Nee, a convicted burglar, “meant business, and it wasn’t good business.
“This is the crux of the matter,” he said. “Thomas Cashman’s ruthless pursuit to murder Joseph Nee, without regard for the community.”
Mr. Cashman, of West Derby, had a loaded pistol and revolver in his possession on the night of the shooting and was “lying in wait” for Nee, who was “without a doubt the intended target,” according to Mr. McLachlan.
The court heard that Olivia’s mother, Cheryl Korbel, who was at home with her three children, opened her door after hearing commotion outside, and as she did, Nee “made a dash” towards her house, with Mr. Cashman in pursuit.
Mr. McLachlan stated, “[She] then realized the gravity of the situation she was in, and she turned in a panic and ran back to her home.”
The court heard that Mr. Cashman began firing his revolver at Mr. Nee, striking the front door of the family residence.
Mr. McLachlan stated that a bullet likely “passed through the door and then through Cheryl Korbel’s right hand as she was no doubt attempting to close the door.”
“The bullet then went into the torso of Cheryl Korbel’s daughter Olivia Pratt-Korbel.”
The court heard Nee pounding on the door and yelling “help me.” While Ms. Korbel testified that she was yelling at him to “go away.”
She stated: “When I heard the gunfire, I became aware. It struck my hand and I felt it.”
Mr. McLachlan reported that she then turned around and saw Olivia screaming “Mum, I’m terrified” as she descended the stairs.
“She went all floppy and her eyes went to the back of her skull,” she said.
“I lifted her top and saw that the bullet had struck her in the center of her chest. Which I didn’t know until then.”
Olivia’s sister Chloe Korbel heard their mother screaming that “Livia had been struck,” the court heard.
The jury was told that Ms. Korbel was telling her injured daughter Nee to “stay with me, darling” as she lay on the hallway floor.
A neighbor told police that she was asleep when she heard two loud gunshots outside, followed by two muffled bangs and “the worst screaming I’ve ever heard.”
She then heard Chloe say on the phone: “Where have they disappeared to? She is deteriorating.”
The court heard that armed police arrived at approximately 22:10 BST, with PC Cooper entering the residence and PC Metcalf retrieving a first aid kit from the trunk of the patrol vehicle.
But they chose to take her directly to the hospital.
Olivia’s eyes were open and PC Metcalf could feel a feeble heartbeat. But her lips were blue and she was unresponsive.
Later that evening, Olivia was pronounced deceased at Alder Hey Children’s Hospital.
Olivia suffered three gunshot wounds caused by a single bullet that entered her chest, departed her chest. And became embedded in her upper arm, according to a post-mortem examination.
Mr. McLachlan stated that Mr. Cashman fled the shooting site through backyards.
The court heard that he went to the residence of a woman. Who cannot be identified for legal reasons, who testified that she heard Mr. Cashman say “Joey Nee.”
She also reported hearing him say something similar to “I’m done, Joey.”
The jury was told Mr. Cashman was taken back to his Citroen Berlingo van.
Neighbors claimed they saw Nee stumbling out of the house and collapsing in the street. He called before a black car with five men inside took him away, the court heard.
Ten men and two women on the jury were instructed that the primary issue in the case would be whether or not they were certain that Mr. Cashman was the shooter.
Before the pursuit began, Nee was reportedly viewing a football game at the residence of another man, Timothy Naylor.
Mr. McLachlan said when Nee exited the house, with his friend Paul Abraham, Mr. Cashman ran behind him. And fired three shots from a self-loading pistol, one of which struck Nee in the midriff.
Witnesses told the jury that Nee yelled “please don’t,” “don’t boy,” and “what are you doing lad?”
Mr. McLachlan stated that after Nee stumbled, Mr. Cashman stood over him and attempted to discharge him again. But he was unable to complete his “task” and kill Nee.
The jury learned that Nee left Mr. Cashman and went to Ms. Korbel’s house.
The court was informed that Mr. Cashman had intended to shoot Mr. Nee earlier in the day after seeing his vehicle outside Mr. Naylor’s home, but had been “thwarted” when he returned and Nee had left.
Mr. McLachlan stated that a forensic scientist discovered Mr. Cashman’s DNA and gunshot residue on a pair of tracksuit bottoms recovered in his sister’s home.
It was a “premeditated and ruthless effort to murder Joseph Nee,” Mr. McLachlan told the court.
Mr. Cashman, of Grenadier Drive, is additionally charged with the attempted murder of Nee and the attempted wounding of Olivia’s mother, in addition to two counts of possessing a firearm with the intent to imperil life.
About four weeks are anticipated for the trial.
