Daughter testifies against father in mother's murder

TAMPA (FOX 13) - Mikaylah Dukes is now is 18 years old, but the darkest chapter of her young life came when she was just 14.

"He shot her, my dad shot my mom," she recalled in court Wednesday.

Mikaylah wiped away tears as she told a jury about the day she, her mother, and her little sister, Monica hid from a killer.

"My dad starts punching the door and the wall," continued Mikaylah.

That killer, prosecutors say, is defendant Keith Dukes -- Mikaylah's father. He is accused of gunning down his wife, Michelle Dukes, in front of his two young daughters.

That morning, Mikaylah said she remembers her parents arguing as she and her two little sisters waited in the car to get a ride to school. Then she heard screams.

"I see her hold her neck and my dad chasing her," said Mikaylah.

Prosecutors say Michelle had been attacked with a box cutter. With her neck bleeding, she ran over to a neighbor’s house. Mikaylah and Monica followed her inside.

Mikaylah said they hid in a room, but Dukes, who had traded his knife for a gun, hunted them down, according to investigators.

She said she used an old TV set in the room to create a barrier between them and her dad. Mikaylah  showed the jury how she tried to block the door, but she said her dad broke through and soon there was a struggle for the gun.

"I then heard two shots and I hear my mom scream," said Mikaylah.

This time, Mikaylah, said she was able to grab the gun from her dad.

"I pointed it at him," she explained.

She and her little sister were able to escape and call for help. 

During opening statements, Dukes' attorneys told the jury steroid use and anger drove Dukes to murder. They claim this was not premeditated first-degree murder; this was a crime of passion.

The trial is expected to last two weeks.