It’s a series of tragic events, but David Steed was shot in the back while leaving his Fortuna neighbor’s home on Christmas Eve 2007, the prosecution said. Or it’s a case of justifiable self-defense, in which Thomas Dowdy Jr. was protecting his girlfriend, her child and himself after his neighbor threatened them, the defense said.

In opening statements Monday at Dowdy’s murder trial, the Humboldt County District Attorney’s Office argued that David Steed, 43, was shot twice in the back while fleeing his neighbor’s yard.
Dowdy’s lawyer, Humboldt County Public Defender Blair Angus argued that David Steed — who was unarmed with methamphetamine and amphetamine in his system at the time of death — had consumed enough meth to kill.

Dowdy, who was 22 at the time, is accused of shooting and killing David Steed as the two argued in Dowdy’s South Third Street yard the evening before Christmas 2007. Steed’s son allegedly drove a pickup truck through a fence after hearing gunshots, striking both men, but Steed was found to have died from the gunshot wounds.
In the first Fortuna murder case to go to trial in more than 15 years, a jury consisting of eight women and four men will decide whether Dowdy is guilty of alleged first-degree murder, a lesser charge or is not guilty. The trial is expected to last two to three weeks.

Dowdy turned himself in to the Fortuna Police Department on Jan. 22, nearly a month after the shooting, in which he was seriously injured. He and David Steed allegedly argued over the theft of firewood on Christmas Eve. Steed also allegedly made death threats to Dowdy and his girlfriend at their home, including a threatening gesture in which he used his hand to mimic a knife slash to the throat, the probable cause statement indicated.

Dowdy allegedly demanded the man leave his property, then armed himself with a hunting rifle and followed Steed outside. After Dowdy allegedly fired a “warning shot,” Steed backed away from Dowdy and again allegedly threatened to kill the man. Steed then turned around, but was allegedly shot twice in the back. Evan Steed, the then-18-year-old son of David Steed, told police he saw his injured father and saw Dowdy standing over him with a rifle pointed at his head, the probable cause statement stated. “Evan then accelerated toward the fence and closed his eyes,” the statement said. “Evan explained that he was not going to allow his father to be executed.”

Three witnesses, including Dowdy’s pregnant girlfriend, testified Monday following opening statements. Fortuna Police Officer Jeremy Bollings said he was told someone in tight jeans and cowboy boots had fled the crashed pickup truck prior to his arrival on the scene. Bollings also said he’d recognized David Steed from previous contacts.

Fortuna Police Officer Martin Morris testified that he saw the open driver’s side door of the crashed pickup truck when he arrived at Dowdy’s home. He also said a man who wasn’t authorized to be on the property entered the home and left some time later.

Morris had seen Dowdy only four days prior, he testified, after Dowdy had been pepper-sprayed by two men wearing ski masks in a pickup truck near his home.

Dowdy’s girlfriend, Jennifer Womack, testified that David and Evan Steed had stopped by the South Third Street home the afternoon of Dec. 24, 2007, and spoke with her boyfriend about alleged stolen firewood. David Steed told Dowdy he had 24 hours to come up with money for the wood, Womack testified, but she didn’t hear any threats or shouts.

But when Steed returned to their home later that night, Womack testified that he was moving around a lot, yelling and flailing his arms about. “He said, ‘You guys are effing dead,’” Womack said and showed the throat-slitting gesture she said Steed made. After Dowdy told Steed to leave, Steed walked to the side of the home toward the back, Womack said, and kept yelling and making threats.

Dowdy grabbed the gun from inside the home and Womack testified that she heard gunshots after he’d told him again to leave. She said she yelled for Dowdy to stop after the first shot was fired. Shortly after, from inside the home, Womack said she heard a really loud sound, which turned out to be the truck that had traveled through the backyard fence.

Dowdy, who remains in jail on $1 million bail, wore a blue shirt and sat next to his lawyer. Deputy District Attorney Ben McLaughlin is prosecuting the case.