For the second time in eight months, Sergio Berben sat in a witness box staring at a man he believed was responsible for the murder of his girlfriend.
“Andrea was the person I wanted to spend the rest of my life with,” Berben, 22, told jurors Tuesday before pointing directly to Adrian Cosby, the man prosecutors say fired the fatal shot. “That is the man who completely turned our world upside down.”
In February, Berben’s testimony helped seal the fate of George Oshane Walton, 24. After a two-week trial, jurors determined that although Walton had never fired a weapon, he had participated in a crime that led to the death of high school student Andrea. Kampen-Lacayo. He was convicted of first-degree murder, attempted first-degree murder and attempted armed robbery with a firearm and sentenced to life in prison.
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Tuesday morning, the trial of Walton’s friend Adrian Cosby began with opening statements and Berben’s testimony. Like Walton, 23-year-old Cosby is charged with first-degree murder, attempted first-degree murder and attempted robbery with a firearm.
The opening statements from both sides were short but sweet. Miami-Dade Assistant State’s Attorney Khalil Quinan told jurors that Walton was the bagman and Cosby the shooter and promised jurors they would see time-stamped surveillance video of the two men leading to Camps-Lacayo’s death.
‘One robbery. One gun. One bullet took a life,” Quinan said. “Adrian Cosby shot and killed her during a botched armed robbery.”
Cosby’s attorney Dustin Tischler said his client was just taking an evening walk in slippers when Camps-Lacayo was killed. He also said the shooting happened so quickly that Berben was likely confused and prosecutors believe the wrong man pulled the trigger.
“Walton committed this crime,” Tischler said. His client was only “guilty of being in the wrong place at the wrong time.”
A botched robbery costs a life
Camps-Lacayo, an 18-year-old senior at the prestigious Terra Environmental Research Institute in West Kendall, lost her life in April 2020 in a botched armed robbery in a Homestead subdivision of three pairs of rare and expensive sneakers attached to major brand names. And she wasn’t even supposed to be there.
On Tuesday, Berben reiterated what he told attorneys and jurors in February: As a part-time money-making gig, he became a sneakerhead in high school and had spent years selling expensive Black Market shoes through an Instagram account.
On the day his girlfriend was murdered, a friend had put him in touch with a man named Eric Readon, who had closed the deal to buy three pairs of Yeezy Sneakers, a joint venture between rap superstar Kanye West and Adidas.
Although the shoes retailed for $220, the special sneakers were so hard to come by that they settled on a retail price of $935 for the three pairs. Berben said it was just bad luck that he was having breakfast with Camps-Lacayo when Readon called and sent him to the Homestead address.
When the couple entered the gated community in Berben’s white Jeep Wrangler, he was told to park in front of an abandoned house. Then Walton showed up and the two started talking. Berben said he was holding one pair of shoes, and his girlfriend was holding the other two.
Berben told jurors that Walton never displayed a weapon or tried to steal the shoes. As they were talking, Berben said, he noticed through his side mirror Cosby walking up to the Jeep from behind. When Cosby got next to Walton, he opened fire, hitting Camps-Lacayo in the stomach and Berben in the left arm. Berben said Cosby never said a word.
“He just shot without a care in the world,” Berben said.
Bleeding, Berben said he placed the Jeep on the floor and called 911 from outside the complex. Then jurors and friends and family of Camps-Lacayo listened to the heartbreaking 911 call for the second time since February. Berben struggled with the operator who repeatedly asked him about the shooters until he finally pulled over on the side of Southwest 112th Avenue , just before the southbound exit onto Florida’s Turnpike.
As the operator urged him to apply pressure to his girlfriend’s gunshot wound with a towel, Berben told her that Camps-Lacayo vomited and lost consciousness.
“She’s not awake anymore,” he says.
“Is she no longer responding?” the operator asks.
“No,” Berben said.
The trial is expected to last at least until the end of the week. Cosby is not expected to testify.
