Girlfriend of victim testifies at shooting trial
Defense says use of force reasonable
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The jury trial of a Minot man charged with manslaughter after a fatal shooting at a bar last May began Tuesday in North Central District Court in Minot.
Travis McDermott, 40, Minot, was charged with manslaughter, a Class B felony, and reckless endangerment with a dangerous weapon, a Class C felony, after an altercation at The Original bar in Minot resulted in the death of Greyson Sletto, 32, Willow City. The jury of 12 heard opening statements from Assistant State's Attorney Tina Snellings and Defense Attorney Philip Becher, who presented conflicting takes on the reasonableness of McDermott's actions during the incident.
Both parties acknowledged the incident was captured by the bar's video surveillance system, but both offered the jury different interpretations regarding who escalated the situation to its fatal conclusion.
According to testimony from Minot Police Detective Elijah Hanks at the preliminary hearing, the inciting incident was an instance of contact between McDermott's girlfriend, Andrea Hasse, and Sletto on the dance floor of the venue. Though Hasse told investigators she had been touched inappropriately, Hanks described the contact as incidental after reviewing surveillance video. This led to an exchange of words between McDermott and Sletto, which escalated to physical contact before Sletto threw McDermott to the floor.
"You will see that this conversation escalated when the defendant pulled out his gun and showed it to Greyson," Snelling said. "Then there was an altercation and the two wound up falling to the ground. As Greyson was standing up, the defendant shot him in the chest. And as he was falling, the defendant shot him in the back."
Snelling downplayed McDermott's claims of a size disparity between him and Sletto and also asked the jury to focus on the number of bystanders she said were put in harm's way by McDermott's actions.
"He told them he had every right to do what he did. Listen closely as the defendant tells his story, and the evidence will show it changes multiple times. What doesn't change is his claim he was defending himself. The way the defendant chose to defend himself was unreasonable, and it endangered everyone in that bar," Snelling said.
Becher also highlighted the importance of the security footage to be presented in evidence but stated it would show Sletto was a "drunk and aggressive stranger" who actually escalated the altercation with McDermott. Becher said their conversation included a threat from Sletto that if McDermott didn't "shut her up" he would get violent, which led to his client brandishing his firearm.
"Instead of Mr. Sletto going 'okay' and backing off, realizing he just confronted a stranger for absolutely no good reason, he tries to steal a stranger's firearm from him. Mr. McDermott doesn't do anything. Mr. Sletto doesn't leave or stop, instead he punches Mr. McDermott in the face," Becher said. "I don't think there's any way that you could say Mr. McDermott was in control of the situation. Mr. Sletto had any number of opportunities to leave Mr. McDermott alone. He tried to get Mr. Sletto to back off. Instead he escalated, escalated and escalated."
The first round of witnesses included The Original's general manager Benjamin George, who said the night was fairly busy as it was graduation weekend at Minot State University. The shooting took place in the early morning hours of May 14, 2023, shortly after the conclusion of a performance by Fargo band Tripwire at the venue, with the incident captured by a 32-camera security system.
Key testimony was provided by Sletto's girlfriend, Ciarra Wald, who described Sletto as a gregarious, hard-working father of three sons who farmed with his father in the Willow City area. Wald said Sletto had brought his sons to a birthday pool party at a local hotel, and another parent had volunteered to watch the children while they had a night out together.
Wald said she had gone to the venue a couple hours before Sletto. She said Sletto had been drinking at the hotel bar that evening. Wald was in a different part of the bar when the interaction between the two men began, but she raced to his side after the shooting occurred.
"I ran up to him. I fell on the ground. I guess some people started pulling me back away from him," Wald said, "I just wanted him to know I was there, and I didn't want him to give up and let go. I remember I kept yelling to everyone helping with the situation that he had three young boys at home and for them to do the best they could."
There was also testimony from two bystanders who attempted to de-escalate the conflict and detained McDermott after the shooting, though only one was a direct witness to the shooting. Benjamin Brink had tried to get between McDermott and Sletto in the moments before the shots were fired. However, Brink stated, he had consumed alcohol that evening and had trouble remembering the events in great detail.
Testimony is expected to continue in the coming days and the trial is set to conclude by Friday.