The trial of two men accused of shooting Lionel Thomas Jr last year has begun in Supreme Court.

Shelton Baker and Stacey Robinson have both denied charges of attempted murder, wounding with intent to cause grievous bodily harm and using a firearm to commit an indictable offence.

A third man — Shannon Dill — admitted his involvement in the April 30, 2014, shooting earlier this week, pleading guilty to charges of wounding Mr Thomas with intent to cause grievous bodily harm and using a firearm to do so.

Meanwhile a fourth defendant, Roshuntae Davis, has denied a charge of assisting Dill after the fact.

Delivering an opening speech, prosecutor Nicole Smith said the Crown could not say if it was Mr Baker, Mr Robinson or Dill who actually pulled the trigger, but that all three had worked together to carry out the shooting.

Outlining the Crown’s case, she said that on the evening of the shooting Mr Thomas had gone to Southampton Rangers with two friends before returning to his home on Cove Valley, St David’s, in the early hours of April 30. He was then joined by a friend (Female A).

Ms Smith said Mr Thomas and Female A went to move her car to a different parking space, and when they did so they discovered a parked car with no licence plates. They started to walk back to Mr Thomas’s home, but as they did they noticed a group of men dressed in black walking towards the entrance to his bedroom.

Mr Thomas went to investigate, sneaking to the back of his house, but he didn’t see the unknown persons. He went back to the front of the building, where he was confronted by three people.

“Words were exchanged and two to three shots rang out,” Ms Smith said. “Mr Thomas was shot twice.”

Female A heard the gunshots from her car and ducked down to avoid being seen. However she reportedly saw a female running down the hill, followed by three men in dark clothing.

She then heard them messing with the driver’s side door of the plate-less vehicle and walk away.

Once the people had left, Female A drove to Mr Thomas’s home and found him laying in his own blood.

Ms Smith also said that on the evening of the shooting Dill was with a woman (Female B) at his home. He allegedly woke Female B, saying something had happened to Mr Robinson and he needed to borrow her vehicle.

Wanting to know what happened, Female B spoke with another friend (Female C) and the pair began to drive around St David’s looking for Mr Robinson.

While driving, they were contacted by Ms Davis through text messages who said she wanted to be picked up. The women followed Ms Davis’s directions and found her with Mr Baker, Mr Robinson and Dill.

The group went back to Female B’s home, where Dill suggested that Ms Davis collect his car for him. She, Female B and Female C drove to the plate-less car, but abandoned plans to collect the vehicle after they were confronted by a friend of Mr Thomas (Male A).

The women then drove to Ms Davis’s home, believing that Male A was following them. The following morning they went again to collect the car and found Police in the area, with Dill in the back of a Police car.

They later found Mr Robinson and asked him about what had happened. Mr Robinson responded with words to the effect of: “It was a robbery gone bad.”

The first prosecution witness, Detective Seargeant Peter Thompson of the Forensic Support Unit, told the court that he arrived at the scene around 3.21am and discovered a trail of blood around the outside of the house.

He also noted a black Volkswagen Polo parked nearby without any licence plates. Upon closer examination, he noticed that both sets of plates were on the vehicle’s back seat.

Nearby, he found a magazine clip from a firearm and a “Hulk” mask, which he collected.

Det Sgt Thompson said he was still at the scene around 6am when he was told a man had arrived near the Smiths Hill Road side of the cordoned area asking about the car. The officer went to the area and saw Dill, who was being arrested. At that point, he placed a brown paper bag over Dill’s hands before he could be taken from the scene.

The officer later testified that he tested items including the car, mask and magazine for DNA and Dill’s hands for gunshot residue.

The trial continues.