Michael Lister Sr. is accused of shooting Tracie Raisner in front of his West Ward home
Michael Lister Sr. is accused in the shooting death of Tracie Raisner. (Contributed photo)
By Riley Yates
OF THE MORNING CALL
October 6, 2009
Thirteen-year-old Anthony Lister's eyes stayed straight ahead, though his father sat just paces from him.
Only once did Anthony glance in Michael W. Lister Sr.'s direction, as he identified the man at the defendant's table in the Northampton County courtroom.
Anthony kept a steady voice as he testified against his father, though Lister gunned down the boy's mother nearly a year ago in Easton's West Ward.
But while the youth was calm and his replies quick, the emotion showed on his face as he recounted Oct. 26, 2008 -- a day on which police said they found Anthony kneeling over his 35-year-old mom's fallen body, crying frantically.
No one disputes it was Lister, 42, who fired the six bullets that killed Tracie L. Raisner of Easton, his ex-girlfriend. The question before jurors in the trial, which began Monday, is the level of culpability Lister has in the slaying.
Prosecutors are seeking a first-degree murder conviction, which would promise a life sentence, as would a verdict of murder in the second degree.
Lister's lawyers say he's guilty only of voluntary manslaughter or third-degree murder, which are respectively punishable by up to 20 years and up to 40 years behind bars.
Anthony's testimony capped Monday's proceedings and represented the first time the boy has taken the stand to talk about the shooting.
Prodded by Assistant District Attorney Kelly Lewis' questions, Anthony described a day that began with a football game his team won, before veering into tragedy after his mother dropped him off for a custody visit at his father's 327 N. 10th St. home.
Anthony said Lister was waiting outside when they arrived that evening and had him go inside while the parents talked.
But within moments, Anthony said, he heard his mom call for him to come back, because they were leaving.
Then, there were ''numerous'' gunshots.
''I ran outside and I saw her lying on the ground,'' said Anthony, who was then 12, ''Then my father, he got his keys and took off in his car.''
Anthony also testified that a week before, his father had threatened to blow his mother's ''head off her shoulders'' after she came by his house with another man in the car.
Lewis, the prosecutor, said Lister is a jealous man who didn't like that Raisner had moved on. Lewis described a scene before the shooting in which Lister held a gun to his ex-girlfriend's head and she begged him to stop.
''The defendant executed Tracie: six shots to her body, vital parts of her body, within earshot of their child,'' Lewis told jurors in opening statements.
But defense attorney Dwight Danser argued Lister only fired on Raisner after she reached into her jacket as if she were grabbing for something.
''He felt that she was threatening him, that she was coming at him with a gun,'' Danser said.
He told jurors that Lister's state of mind at the time will be the key question they must answer.
The trial continues today.
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