Emotional testimony in trial of man accused of murdering girlfriend in 2014

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Three years after her murder, Rashawn Jackson’s accused killer is finally on trial.

"That was three miserable years. Three miserable years.  And we're finally going to get our justice,"  her mother, Antoinette Jackson told Channel 2's Sophia Choi.

Rashawn’s ex boyfriend, Maurice Nesbitt is charged with the May 2014 murder. Her family says they witnessed him abusing her and she was leaving him.

Rashawn’s childhood friend said she also witnessed the abuse.

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On the stand, she cried while recalling one instance saying, “He grabbed her hair and bashed her head into the dashboard."

The shooting happened at the Venetian Hills Apartments in Southwest Atlanta. Her mother and sister were in the next room, but didn’t see the shooting. They found her lying on the ground with a bullet in her head.

Rashawn’s sister, LaToya took the stand saying “After a while, the grip from her hand, she just let go.  I knew she was gone.”

At least twice, court proceedings stopped as tearful family and friends ran out of the courtroom, uncontrollably crying.

Police say Nesbitt hid after the shooting.  They found him two months later, but a judge let Nesbitt out on bail.

Nesbitt says he’s not guilty but Rashawn’s family has no doubt. They say this is a classic case of abuse that ended in murder.

LaToya Jackson thinks her sister’s murder should serve as a harsh lesson for others, saying “When somebody says it’s over, it’s over. This is for her and every other woman getting abused in America.”

Trial is expected to end on Friday.