GOLDEN — Thomas Johns and Anthony Lowe joked about robbing the Arvada Burger King where both once were employed, Johns’ sister testified Monday.
“They would talk about how easy it would be to rob the Burger King,” Wendy Johns said. Asked by prosecutor Sean Clifford when they would talk about that, she replied, “When they would get drunk or were being stupid.”
Johns, who was then 17, and Lowe, who was 21, are being tried for first-degree murder in the July 15 shooting death of night cook Celia Meza, 30, at the fast-food restaurant at West 64th Avenue and Ward Road.
Prosecutors contend that Lowe took Meza into a walk-in freezer and shot her as she called 911 on her cellphone. They have described Johns as the mastermind of the robbery plot.
“They would just laugh about how they would throw one in the freezer,” Wendy Johns said. “They just kind of laughed about it.”
Under cross-examination, Wendy Johns said she did not think they were serious and did not hear them talk about shooting or killing someone.
Wendy Johns said her brother and Lowe lived in Johns’ mother’s home until shortly before the incident. She said she saw both carrying a gun around the house.
“Thomas would have it, sometimes AJ (Lowe) would have it — whoever was messing with it at the time,” said Wendy Johns, 19.
On the morning of the predawn shooting, Wendy Johns said she got a phone call from her brother.
“He said he loved me and my mother and he did not kill her,” Wendy Johns said.
Her brother said “he had something to do with the robbery, but he did not kill the girl.”
Prosecutors expect to rest their case today.
Ann Schrader: 303-278-3217 or aschrader@denverpost.com
