Emotional testimony capped the first day Monday in the arson and murder trial of a woman accused of setting the fire that killed Kansas City firefighters John Mesh and Larry Leggio.
Capt. Steve Davis remembers instructing firefighter Leggio to pull a fan out of a window facing the alley so they could throw more water at the fire within.
“He said, ‘Sure thing, Stevie.’ “
“I made a right turn and took a couple of steps,” Davis testified. “I heard a pop and looked over my shoulder. I started seeing bricks coming down.” He saw one firefighter partially pinned under the rubble.
“I didn’t see firefighter Mesh or firefighter Leggio,” Davis said.
They were killed on Oct. 12, 2015 when the east wall of a three-story building in the 2600 block of Independence Boulevard collapsed. It had been weakened by a fire that Jackson County prosecutors say was set by Thu Hong Nguyen, who managed a nail salon on the first floor of the building.