Britt (Sweeney) Kelly testifies in Chris Monfort murder trial

The only person to see Seattle police Officer Timothy Brenton shot and killed five years ago testified again Wednesday against murder suspect Christopher Monfort.

Officer Britt Kelly, whose last name at the time was Sweeney, had been working in the East Precinct with Brenton for only three days when they were attacked with bullets at 29th Avenue and Yesler Way.

“[Brenton had actually asked for the first couple of hours off, because he was supposed to take his children trick­-or-­treating," Kelly said Tuesday. "And because staffing was too low, he was denied the time.”

Instead, Brenton was with Kelly, guiding her through a traffic stop that she made. Click here for Tuesday's coverage and a timeline of the case.

Kelly told the jury Wednesday what happened after she and Brenton left the traffic stop.

She said Brenton asked to pull over somewhere so they could review her performance. She said that when he made that request, she was already positioned to turn east onto Yesler.

“That’s when I thought that I wished I had set up to go in the other direction,” Kelly said.

The other direction had more businesses and parking lots in which to park, she said.

Instead, she found a spot in a residential area, near 29th Avenue and Yesler Way. Kelly said she was checking her surroundings in the mirrors as Brenton gave her advice on properly identifying her location to dispatch.
As they were wrapping up their review and getting ready to leave, Kelly said she had her foot on the brake. But they were never able to take off.

She said she saw a smaller car pull up next to her, stopping so close she wouldn't have been able to get out of her car if she tried.

After taking several moments to gather her composure, Kelly continued with her testimony.

“The next thing I remember was a very bright … a very bright muzzle flash, a very loud noise, and the smell of gunpowder so fierce … and pain," Kelly said through tears. "All at once. It was enough to cause me to turn quickly away from it, as it came from my left, that I was never able to see more of what was beside me.”

Kelly said that as each of six or seven shots rang out, she shut her eyes even tighter. When she opened them, her face was close to the in-car microphone in the console. She radioed, "Shots fired."

Kelly told the jury that she had not said anything to Brenton or noticed his condition because she was focused on surviving.

She eventually got out of the car and shot back at the suspect’s vehicle eight to 10 times.

“At that point I was actually really pissed. Because I realized that Tim was not out of the car. I knew that he was the mentoring officer, and that it was up to me to do everything, but I was pissed that he wasn’t helping,” Kelly said.

It wasn’t until she moved to the front of the patrol car and looked through the windshield that she realized that Brenton was dead, she said.

Kelly tried to use the portable microphone on her shoulder, but she couldn’t get through. She was unable to deliver on the very advice that Brenton had given minutes before about stating a proper location. Dispatch eventually found her through the car’s GPS.

Kelly said that even as officers arrived, she hid between parked cars and did not give out her location for fear the suspect would return.

Even as she was treated for a bullet that grazed her head, Kelly said she still felt unsafe, as if the suspect might come back to hunt her down. Despite having so many officers around, Kelly asked for the medical unit lights to be turned off.

KIRO 7 asked the defendant, Christopher Monfort, if he had any reaction to Kelly’s testimony. He did not reply.

Click here to see trial tweets from @NatashaKIRO7.

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