Widow gives emotional testimony in Plant City gas station shooting trial

TAMPA, Fla. (FOX 13) - There were tears and visible heartbreak as the widow of a man killed at a Plant City gas station took the stand Wednesday.

Prosecutors say Alkwaun Dixon pulled the trigger that night and Bonnie Beson witnessed it all.

It was very emotional testimony and there is no question, which can have a great impact on a jury.

Married to her husband, Michael for 45 years, Bonnie told the jury about the night her world was turned upside down.

It started with a stop at that gas station on April 8, 2016.

"I was sitting in the seat and, all of a sudden, there is a young black man with a gun pointed at me and he said, 'Give me your purse,'" Beson told the courtroom through tears. "And I said, 'I’m not giving you my purse. I’ve got pictures in there.'"

Gas station surveillance video shows the armed robbery. Prosecutors say Alkwaun Dixon pointed a gun at Bonnie while his co-defendant, Xavier Smith had a gun pointed at Michael Beson, who was pumping gas.

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"He had a silver pistol that looked like one you see in the old western movies. I didn't think the gun was real," said Beson.

But it was real.

Bonnie says when she refused to give over her purse, her husband ran to help her and that's when she says it happened.

"I'm looking back at the shooter and I'm looking at him right in the face and he pulls the trigger and he shot my husband. When he shot him, I got out of the car and walked over to my husband. I reached down. There was so much blood. I knew he was not going to survive," cried Beson.

Prosecutors say Dixon was the shooter that night and the video shows him and his accomplice take off running.

Now a jury will have to determine whether the video shows Dixon pulling the trigger, or someone else.

Xavier Smith was sentenced to life in prison in the case.