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Friends say teen murder suspect made previous threats

CLAYTON COUNTY, Ga. — Friends of a teen accused of killing his 16-year-old girlfriend said they heard him say he was going to kill her.

That was testimony on Tuesday, the first day of the murder trial for Kevin Kosturi. Police said he was 15 years old when he shot and killed Angel Freeman in February 2011 in Ellenwood.
   
During opening statements, prosecutors said Kosturi was jealous and insecure in his relationship with Freeman. Clayton County Assistant District Attorney Mike Thurston said Freeman broke up with Kosturi, and he couldn't bear the thought of losing her. Kosturi's friend took the stand, saying the suspect didn't want Freeman to leave him.

"He said, 'If I can't have her, nobody can,'" Charles Williams said.
   
Another classmate testified Kosturi and Freeman would argue at school, and he would make threatening statements. 

"I was like, 'What's wrong with Angel?' And he was like, 'I'm going to kill her,'" Casey Bartlett said.
   
Prosecutors said even though the couple had broken up, Freeman still agreed to meet Kosturi on President's Day in 2011. School was out and police said the pair went to a makeshift fort in a wooded area near his home. Prosecutors said that's where Kosturi used a .38-caliber handgun he borrowed from a neighbor to shoot Freeman in the chest. 
   
"Kevin loved Angel dearly," defense attorney Holly Waltman told the jury.

She admitted the couple fought as most couples do. Waltman told the jury Freeman was shot by accident. She said Kosturi gave Freeman the gun while they were inside the fort and Freeman gave him her cellphone.

"A playful scuffle happens and next thing Kevin remembers is that Angel's bleeding to death in his arms," Waltman explained.
   
Prosecutors said Kosturi told police several versions of how Angel died, including how someone shot her with a rifle before running away. Officers said he eventually explained that he shot her and showed officers where he had tossed the gun in a nearby retention pond.