Gabriela Gonzales has moved on since the night her first boyfriend burst into a New London apartment and shot the new man in her life as she lay beside him in bed, but attorneys for the state called on her to relive the incident once again on Friday.

Gonzales, who has grown from a teenager to a young woman of 21 and become a mother in the four years since Jorge R. "Loco" Rosa was murdered, took the witness stand at the trial of 22-year-old Davion "Banga" Smith in New London Superior Court.

She maintained her poise as she told the story, breaking down only when she reached the part where Evan J. "Hot Boy" Holmes opened fire on Rosa.

Holmes is serving 70 years in prison for Rosa's murder, and now the state is trying to prove to a jury that his alleged accomplice, Smith, is guilty of felony murder, home invasion, first-degree burglary and conspiracy to commit first-degree burglary.

Gonzales appeared more relaxed and spoke more clearly than she had during previous court appearances. She said she is about to start a new job.  

Jurors sat forward in their seats and relatives of the victim and defendant listened from the gallery as prosecutor Paul J. Narducci elicited testimony from her that was consistent with that of her previous court appearances.

As Gonzales has done before, she testified that she woke up to find Smith and Holmes, both armed with guns, standing at the foot of the bed in the third-floor apartment at 252 Montauk Ave. where she and Rosa had fallen asleep watching the Jim Carrey version of "How the Grinch Stole Christmas." Holmes asked Rosa who he was, then shot him multiple times, she said.

"Davion walked out of the room," she testified. "Evan pointed the gun at me, then shook his head and walked out."

Rosa was still alive and talking when Gonzales called 911, but died at the scene of gunshot wounds to the chest and groin. 

Gonzales denied knowing the gunmen at first, but identified them when patrolman Benjamin Burbank told her the injuries looked personal, and that Rosa probably would not be able to speak for himself.

Holmes was arrested hours later at an Old Saybrook motel. Smith remained at large for four months before he was arrested in New London.

Gonzales had dated Holmes off and on since she was 14 years old. She once obtained a restraining order against him after a domestic dispute, but had stuck with him even when he went to prison for shooting another man in the foot.

She broke up with him before he was released, however, and had been dating Rosa, who was 25, for about three months.

Nine days after Holmes' release from prison, following a late-night run-in at a downtown bar with Rosa's roommate, Todd "T.O." Silva, Holmes and Smith allegedly broke the lock on the door leading to the apartment, and Holmes shot Rosa.

Defense attorney Jeremiah Donovan, during cross-examination, asked Gonzales, who has said several times that the whole incident seemed "like a dream," whether she had dreamed that Smith was in the apartment that night. No, she responded.

She also denied that the reason she implicated Smith was because she was afraid that he would hurt her for telling authorities that Holmes, his best friend, had shot Rosa. 

Gonzales, finished with her testimony before lunchtime, waved to Rosa's relatives in the gallery and left with her mother.

Narducci and prosecutor Sarah Bowman resumed calling police witnesses Friday afternoon. The trial is expected to last through the first week of July.

k.florin@theday.com

Twitter: @KFLORIN