Murder trial resumes for grandmother accused of killing grandson

(WXYZ) - The murder trial resumed Thursday for the grandmother who is charged with shooting her grandson to death last May in West Bloomfield.

Oakland County prosecutors are trying to prove that Sandra Layne murdered Jonathan Hoffman by shooting him six times inside her home. Layne’s defense team claims she shot him in self-defense after being kicked in the chest.

Action News has learned that Hoffman's parents are in town for the trial but are not allowed to sit in the courtroom because they could be called to testify.

During the trial Thursday, prosecutors showed crime scene photos as a West Bloomfield Firefighter/Paramedic talked about seeing multiple bullet wounds on 17-year-old Jonathan Hoffman.

The firefighter testified about trying to stop the bleeding and working quickly to get his heart to beat again. Hoffman never regained consciousness.

Also on Thursday, Layne’s gun was admitted into evidence.

Prosecutors acknowledge that Hoffman tested positive for synthetic marijuana K2, but they told jurors that it had metabolized and had no effect on the teen. The drug was detected in his urine and not his blood.

The West Bloomfield Police dispatcher who took the teen's 911 call was the first witness to testify in the trial. She immediately broke into tears when she was asked about the 911 call Layne grandson, Jonathan Hoffman, placed after being shot.

Defense attorneys claim Layne bought a gun because she was scared and knew what happened in the Tucker Cipriano case. 

Cipriano is accused of killing his father and seriously injuring his mother and brother in April of last year. He has testified that he smoked K2 and used hallucinogenic mushrooms the day his family was attacked.

Hoffman and Layne had had a similar argument to the one that led to Hoffman's death two months before he was killed. She bought the gun about a month later.

At some point in the trial, Sandra Layne is expected to take the stand to testify that she was afraid of her grandson.