Rashard Johnson, a first-hand witness to a drive-by shooting police say is linked to the Dec. 23, 2006 homicide of Todd "T-Rek" Thomas in New London, repeated the phrase, "I don't remember," often under questioning Wednesday at the trial of the two men charged with killing Thomas.

The 34-year-old New London man, known as "Flex" on the street, had seemed more than willing to talk about the case five years ago when city detectives Richard Curcuro and Matthew Galante interviewed him at police headquarters.

"I'll tell you exactly what happened," Johnson told the detectives. At the time, he was in custody on narcotics charges and was wearing handcuffs.

He went on to describe the Dec. 3, 2006 drive-by shooting on Willetts Avenue in detail, standing up to do a re-enactment at one point and helping Curcuro create a diagram of the incident.

Police believe Gerjuan "Cali" Tyus, who suffered two gunshot wounds in the drive-by shooting, had Darius "P-Nut" Armadore, his "enforcer," shoot Thomas as Thomas stood outside of Ernie's Cafe on Bank Street three weeks later.

Thomas, a 30-year-old father of three, died of a gunshot wound to the head.

Tyus and Armadore, arrested after a lengthy investigation impeded by reluctant witnesses, have pleaded not guilty to murder charges and are on trial together.

Johnson's 2010 interview was recorded on videotape, a fact that appeared to surprise him when it was aired for the jury Wednesday in Superior Court in Norwich.

Over the objection of defense attorneys Christopher Duby and John Franckling, Judge Arthur C. Hadden admitted parts of the recording as evidence.  

Called to the witness stand by prosecutor Paul J. Narducci, Johnson, who had been subpoenaed to testify, found himself under the gaze of Tyus and Armadore and their supporters in the gallery.  

Johnson acknowledged he knows Tyus, who is the father of his sister's child, and identified Tyus by the color of his shirt,  saying "He has some burgundy on over there."

Johnson also knew the victim and the victim's widow, Keri Carter-Thomas, who was in the gallery.

"I'm cool with all of them," Johnson had told the detectives five years ago.

He said he was delivering some medicine for his niece when Thomas drove by Tyus' home in a white Lexus and said, "What up?"

The Lexus drove by again a short time later, and Johnson, who said he was standing with Tyus, "dropped and rolled" after Thomas started shooting at Tyus. 

Somebody shot back at Thomas that day, according to police, but Johnson said he was unclear about the source of those gunshots.

Tyus, who was hit in the upper thigh and back asked Johnson to drive him to Lawrence + Memorial Hospital and Johnson did so, even though, he said, he knew he was going to get in trouble with his parole officer.

It was there that detective Curcuro patted him down before questioning Johnson and noted in a report that Johnson was in possession of a gold chain and large Jesus medallion that police say was a source of the "beef" between Tyus and Thomas.

Tyus had possession of two gold chains belonging to Thomas' brother, "John John" Thomas, and Johnson, asked to hold the chain, returned it later to Tyus, according to testimony.

In the 2010 interview with detectives, Johnson went on to provide details that police credited as they continued their investigation, though they believe he incorrectly identified the person who was driving Thomas' Lexus that day.

On the witness stand, Johnson testified that he had been through a lot recently, with the death of his children's mother, and didn't want to be involved.

Johnson said he did get arrested after bringing Tyus to the hospital in December 2006, but was released within a couple of days

"I don't remember any of this," he said under cross-examination by Tyus' attorney. "I just remember helping this man (Tyus), bringing him to the hospital. I went to jail for helping him. I'm a single dad."

Also testifying Wednesday was Cindalee Torres, the mother of Tyus' son, another reluctant witness who had provided police with a statement after the drive-by shooting.

Torres said at the time that she heard Armadore say, as Tyus was being treated at the hospital, that somebody was "going to get it."

Another unwilling witness, Devina Colebut, testified that in 2006, at age 19, she lived in a New London apartment with Thomas even though she knew he was married.

She provided a statement to police, which was admitted as evidence Wednesday, saying that in December 2006, days after the drive-by shooting, she had been driving with Thomas, in the white Lexus, when somebody in a blue Range Rover shot at the Lexus.

Shown the statement in the courtroom, she testified, "I don't recall."

The trial, which is expected to last about three weeks, is off Thursday but will resume on Friday.

k.florin@theday.com

Twitter: @KFLORIN