According to his ex-girlfriend, Brandon Jeffrey Johnson told her he killed Brian Lee during a restaurant robbery in West Homestead.

Janee Krista was one of five witnesses to take the stand for the prosecution Monday in the first day of Johnson's non-jury murder trial in front of Allegheny County Common Pleas Judge Jeffrey Manning.

Johnson, 22, formerly of McKeesport, is accused of murdering Lee, 19, of West Mifflin, during an armed robbery July 13, 2008, at the now-closed Damon's Grill in the Waterfront.

West Homestead police officer Charles Greer testified he responded to the scene that night with other officers to find Lee with a gunshot wound to the chest area. He said Lee later was pronounced dead at UPMC Presbyterian.

Krista, who has a daughter with Johnson, said Johnson asked her for a ride on the night of the fatal shooting.

“I asked him where his car was and he just told me he needed a ride,” she said.

Krista said she decided to have her brother arrange a jitney for Johnson. He told her he was walking across the Homestead Grays Bridge and instructed her to have a jitney pick him up at a Homestead gas station along Eighth Avenue.

Krista said she tried to question Johnson about what happened when he returned to his Greenfield home where she was staying.

“He just told me something happened along the Waterfront and he couldn't get his car because of police,” she said.

Police from West Homestead, Homestead, Munhall, Whitaker, Rankin and Braddock responded to the shooting and blocked all exits from the Waterfront, county homicide detective Lawrence Carpico testified.

Krista said Johnson was wearing a red shirt and black shorts the night of Lee's killing. She said he started complaining that his wrist hurt after that night.

The following day, Krista said she saw Johnson's vehicle in the Damon's parking lot when she was watching television news coverage about Lee's murder. Krista said Johnson told her what had happened.

Johnson reportedly told her he was driving around the Waterfront and noticed Damon's back door open.

“He said he parked, got out and was hiding in the back in the bushes,” she said. “He said he was going to go in, but someone was coming out to throw away trash. He said the person was trying to close the door, and shut the door on his wrists.”

Krista testified that Johnson said he began shooting when the door was shut on his wrists. She said he claimed he saw a guy lying shot on the floor, holding a broom stick or mop. Johnson said he shot one more time and went to see a woman to get money, Krista testified.

She said Johnson told her he didn't use his vehicle because someone would notice, as he already heard sirens. So he changed his shirt, left the money in the car and started walking.

Krista said they took a jitney to the Waterfront the next day to pick up Johnson's vehicle. She said she saw a black drawstring bag full of money that he pulled from the vehicle, and that Johnson was taking shell casings out of his gun.

Assistant district attorney Rebecca Alyce Auld told Manning that prosecutors waived a five-year mandatory sentence regarding a robbery case against Krista in exchange for her testimony. Auld said it will be up to the judge to decide how long Krista will be sentenced for the May 2008 incident.

Auld also said Krista has received numerous threatening phone calls from friends of Johnson telling her not to testify. She said one caller claimed to be Johnson's attorney.

Auld said she doesn't believe defense attorney Patrick Sweeney made that call, but it was someone pretending to be him.

Former Damon's manager Marsha Kukulka testified about Lee's final moments and how she felt she also would be killed.

After a few deep breaths, Kukulka took the stand to explain how she and Lee were the only ones closing the restaurant on July 13, 2008. Kukulka said Damon's employees had to prop open the back door with a rock while taking out the trash. She said Lee was taking out the trash while she went to her office.

Kukulka said she heard Lee scream and she rushed out of her office.

“I thought he had fallen,” she said. “I didn't get far out of the office because (Lee) pushed me back in and said, ‘We're being robbed.'”

Kukulka said the robber, who was dressed all in black and had his face covered, kept pushing the door to get into the office and she and Lee pushed back. She said Lee grabbed the phone to dial 911 and a hand came from the other side of the door, ripping the phone off the wall. Kukulka said the robber fired a shot and Lee fell to the ground.

“He looked at me and said, ‘I'm shot,' and hit the floor,” she said.

Kukulka said the assailant told her to open the safe and she put money into a mesh bag while the man pointed a gun at her. She said the robber then left and she called 911.

After police arrived and canvassed the scene, Kukulka said they produced a suspect for her to identify. Kukulka said she acknowledged that man as the robber.

“I was petrified and I just wanted it to be over,” she said.

Carpico testified that the man first picked up by police was cleared and let go that night.

Witness Gary Sappington testified that he was smoking a cigarette on a balcony at the Courtyard by Marriott when he heard the sirens at Damon's next door. He said he saw a black male wearing a red shirt and black pants or shorts hurrying from the area, passing the hotel and crossing the street to a nearby parking lot.

“He was walking in a quick pace and talking on the phone,” Sappington said. “He kept looking over his left shoulder. He did it three or four times.”

Krista's testimony will continue today.

Johnson was arrested at a McKeesport house on Oct. 24, 2009. He's charged with homicide, robbery, firearms not to be carried without a license and recklessly endangering another person.

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