MANCHESTER – Lennoxx Tibbs was shot to death as a result of a drug sellers' turf war, according to police testimony yesterday at probable cause hearings in Manchester District Court for the man accused of shooting Tibbs and the man accused of accompanying him.

Manchester police Detective Matthew Larochelle testified that Brad Harrington, who had been staying with accused killer Joshua Sprague, 23, and Justin Genest, 20, at 558 Silver St., told police he owned the gun used to kill Tibbs but said Sprague was the shooter.

Sprague

Genest

Sprague was charged with second-degree murder and burglary, and Genest was charged with burglary. Judge William Lyons will determine if there is probable cause to bind the two men over to Hillsborough County Superior Court for consideration by a grand jury.

Under questioning first by Genest's lawyer, Mark Sisti, and later by Sprague's attorney, John Quay, Larochelle said Harrington admitted going to Tibbs' residence at 259 Wilson St. early on the morning of Oct. 22 with a group that included Sprague, Genest and several other men and women, but said he never went upstairs to Tibbs' second-floor apartment.

Joshua Williams, who was out walking a dog when Tibbs, 26, was shot, told the Union Leader that day that Tibbs came running out of the Wilson Street apartment building with three men in pursuit and that one fired multiple shots at Tibbs.

Yesterday, Larochelle said Williams later told police that two men were chasing Tibbs, whose flight across Wilson Street was blocked by a slow moving car.

Williams said Tibbs turned around, put his hands up and said: "I didn't do it, " but one of the men chasing Tibbs shot him. The two men then ran, one east and one west on Hayward Street, Williams said.

Police found four .38 caliber shell casings on the street where Tibbs was shot, but the gun has not been recovered. Tibbs was hit once in the chest and once in the neck.

Tibbs' roommate, variously known as Elena Hann and Marcelena Gomez, told police that people had broken into the apartment the previous day while she was sleeping and had stolen items. The morning of the shooting she said she and her boyfriend were in the bedroom when she heard pounding at the side door of the building and shouts. Hann later told police she recognized Sprague's voice.

She said she heard Tibbs running past the apartment shouting: "They're back. They're back. Run." Hann said she and her boyfriend ran to the third floor and Tibbs fled downstairs to the street, where he was killed.

Larochelle said Hann told police that Sprague and Genest were acquaintances who sold drugs and were competitors. She said they blamed her for setting them up for robberies and had left her phone and text messages telling her to "get off the block" within 24 hours.

When Genest was interviewed in Weymouth, Mass., where he, Sprague and friends were found at a Super 8 Motel two days after the shooting, he told police he'd heard that Hann had broken into their Silver Street apartment with two black males and that they had threatened to shoot the dog.

Sisti insisted there was no burglary and therefore no basis for Genest's charge. "At best, (Genest) was merely present at a tragic shooting," said Sisti.

Both men questioned the credibility of Harrington, a key figure in the case against both Sprague and Genest, and questioned why there are no charges filed against him.

Judge Lyons said he would consider whether probable cause was shown and issue a decision.