Suspect's father takes the stand in meth deal killing trial

ANGOLA, Ind. (WANE) The father of a man accused of killing someone over a meth deal testified during his son's trial on Friday.

Zao Garth Burrell is accused of shooting and killing Brent Dombroski in June of 2012. Police said he then, along with his father Danny Burrell and friend Michael Forrester, led authorities on a high speed chase and shot at officers.

Danny Burrell said in court that he saw Dombroski reaching for the gun that was on the table, grabbing in by the barrel. He then said he and Forrester tried to grab the gun from Dombroski and the gun went off. When asked who pulled the trigger, he said no one.

The firearm examiner testified Thursday saying after doing an impact test, the gun did not discharge. The only way for the gun to go off is by someone pulling the trigger.

Later in his testimony, he said he has lied during the investigation in an interview with police.

Danny Burrell had spoken with NewsChannel 15 on camera a week prior to his testimony in court. The Steuben County Prosecutor attempted to exclude Danny Burrell from being a witness based on that interview, but a judge denied the request.

WANE-TV questioned in Burrell trial

During the on-camera interview, Danny Burrell claimed he, not his son, was responsible for what he called the accidental shooting of Dombroski. He gave this interview shortly after his son's trial started on Friday.

"About 20 to 30 minutes after I got there, he [Dombroski] grabs the gun on the kitchen table and I jumped on it. I don't what he was doing picking that gun up off the table but it wasn't right. It went off and killed him," Danny Burrell told NewsChannel 15. "I don't know what he grabbed the gun for, it's ridiculous. He grabbed it by the barrel and I just went to grab it out of his hand and it went off and that was it."

"Killing over meth" and the ensuing manhunt

Zao Garth Burrell, 25, of Angola, faces a felony murder charge after police say he shot and killed Brent Dombroski over a meth deal on June 3, 2012. A manhunt for Burrell ensued after the shooting.

Police said Burrell shot Dombroski in front of seven other people and then left the scene with his father, Danny and a friend, Michael Forrester in Donbroski’s car.

After the three dropped off Dombroski’s car in Williams County, Ohio, they returned to the home in Fremont around 6:00 a.m., where a pursuit with police ensued.

When the pursuit ended, about a quarter of a mile east of County Road 1.50 near Columbia, Ohio, police said Zao Burrell got out of the vehicle, started shooting at the officer and then ran off. Danny Burrell and Forrester were said to have remained seated in the vehicle.

At that point, officers took the elder Burrell and Forrester to the Corrections Center of Northwest Ohio and booked them on various charges.

Air and ground units from multiple agencies, including SWAT and K-9, were used in the search for Zao Burrell, but the major manhunt ended at 6:00 p.m. Sunday. Police followed up on leads and tips to find him.

Zao Burrell was at large until about 4:30 p.m. the following afternoon when he was captured by Fort Wayne Police Department Vice Narcotics, Allen County

Narcotics, the F.B.I. Safe Streets Task Force and the Indiana State Police in Fort Wayne.

Zao Burrell is not only charged with murder, but also faces charges of  felony attempted murder for allegedly shooting at a police officer while fleeing the scene of the shooting, a felony count of carrying a handgun with a prior felony conviction and Class A misdemeanor charge of carrying a handgun without a license.