MOULTRIE, Ga. – Tykerious Jones laid down in the driver’s seat as the sound of gunfire erupted outside his car.

The former high school football standout said he didn’t know who was shooting or even from what direction the shots were coming.

He said he waited while his friends, who had joined him that night to carry out a burglary, piled into his car.

Jones testified Tuesday that one of them, Christian Glover, returned fire as he tried to speed away.  

When the group met up later, Glover told them, “I think I shot him,” Jones said.

This account of what led to the death of 68-year-old John Hester Sr. came during the second day of Glover’s murder trial, of which Jones has oftentimes found himself at the center.

Glover hasn’t testified, but investigators accounted for much of the 19-year-old’s movements before and after the shooting by analyzing his cell phone.

His web history revealed that he searched information about firearms, the shooting and how to master a criminal interrogation.

Text messages between him and his girlfriend in the early morning hours of July 16 indicated that something was weighing heavily on his mind, although it remains unclear what exactly.

When his girlfriend asked what he was thinking about, he just said, “My life.” He would tell her more when he saw her, he wrote. He was arrested later that day.

Court testimony has revealed that investigators had little to go on before Jones went with his mother 10 days after the shooting to talk to police.

Rumors about Jones’ involvement in the murder had started to spread, and the pair told investigators they wanted to clear Jones’ name. He did that by trying to shift the focus to others.

Jones also handed over his cell phone, from which investigators were able to extract a deleted text message that said he and his friends had been shot at the night before. Photos of stolen handguns were also recovered.

When confronted with this information, Jones started to admit his role, named others and pointed to Glover as the shooter.

Jones is now one of six who have admitted their involvement in the July 2015 shooting in exchange for reduced charges. They each face one to 30 years in prison.

Jones has also admitted to being the one who initiated an earlier burglary on July 5 that is believed to have yielded the handgun that shot Hester. That burglary occurred at a house near his grandmother’s.

He said he then offered up John Hester Jr.’s home as the next target. Jones said he knew the younger Hester well.

“Why did you pick Mr. Hester to rob if he’s your friend,” asked Chief Assistant District Attorney Brad Shealy.

“I don’t know,” Jones replied.

With Jones leading the way, two cars carrying seven teens parked along the road near a wooded area. They put T-shirts around their heads and crept toward Hester’s home late that evening.

What happens next is still a blur, though.

It’s also unclear whether the group abandoned their plan when they saw their would-be victim peek out the door, as Jones said, or whether the shotgun blasts scared them off.

Glover’s attorney, Karla Walker, also pressed back parts of Jones’ story, including the low-key role he says he played in the July 5 incidents even though they were both his idea.

The bullet that struck Hester in the thigh severed two large vessels, Dr. Maryanne Gaffney-Kraft testified Tuesday.

Gaffney-Kraft, who performed the autopsy, said the stress of the injury and, more so, the loss of blood triggered a heart attack.

“The immediate cause of death was his heart attack, but why did he have his heart attack when he had his heart attack? It’s because of the gunshot wound to his right leg,” she said in court.

Hester’s wound, she said, was likely caused by a handgun or rifle, although the caliber is unknown and the bullet was never recovered. The gun that was used has also never been found.

Jill Nolin covers the Georgia Statehouse for CNHI’s newspapers and websites. Reach her at jnolin@cnhi.com.