CLARKSVILLE, Tenn. (CLARKSVILLENOW) – The preliminary hearing for the case against the suspected shooter in the Nov. 20 homicide on Blakemore Drive got underway Wednesday afternoon in Judge Ken Goble’s courtroom.

Army Sgt. Scott Haynes Jr., 25, a soldier stationed at Fort Campbell, is charged with killing Austin Moss, 24.

According to testimony from Moss’ fiancée, Jessica Harris, Moss and Haynes Jr. were soon-to-be brothers-in-law. Harris and Haynes’ wife, Kristen Haynes, are sisters.

Kristen Haynes had invited Harris, Moss, and Harris’ daughter to live with them temporarily after the three of them relocated from Texas to Tennessee while they got on their feet, Harris testified.

“We wanted a fresh start,” Harris said.

They had been staying at Haynes’ house for five days when the shooting took place.

Fight over the dog

According to testimony from Army Sgt. Jonathan Owens, who was at the house prior to the shooting and left before it took place, a fight between Haynes and Moss broke out after a dog peed on their couch.

“Scott (Haynes) was attempting to discipline the dog, and then I heard Scott chasing the dog,” Owens testified.

Moss tried to move the dog so Haynes couldn’t get to it, and Harris said she heard Moss pleading with Haynes, saying, “Don’t hurt the dog.”

“(Haynes’) demeanor changed, stood up taller, and he said, ‘We’re going to squash this right now. You’re not going to tell me what I’m going to do in my own home,'” Harris said.

The two fought and had to be separated. Owen then left.

The stairs

Afterward, Moss started “yelling and cussing” at Haynes, Harris said. Haynes then threatened Moss.

“I heard Scott calmly say, ‘Jessica (Harris) you need to get him out of there; he’s not welcome here. You need to leave by midnight,'” Harris testified. “That’s when I heard Scott (Haynes) say, ‘I’m going to shoot him,'” she continued.

“He told him four to five times he was going to get the gun before he actually did it,” Kristen Haynes testified.

At that point, Haynes went down to the home’s basement where the family’s guns are kept. Kristen Haynes followed, and as Moss tried to follow the pair down the stairs, Harris got to the stairs before him, trying to keep the fight from escalating.

When Moss reached the third stair, Haynes pulled the trigger, they testified.

“I watched the color drain from his face,” Harris testified tearfully, as she was facing Moss on the stairs when the bullet entered his chest.

Moss is survived by his parents and a son, Remy, in Sabine County, Texas, according to DailyNewsandMore.com in Hemphill, Texas.

Next steps

Prosecutor Robert Nash argued that due to the circumstances of Haynes’ threats, the murder was premeditated, and therefore the bond should be as high as possible. Haynes’ defense attorney Chase Smith said that because of Haynes’ connection to the community, as well as his Army ties, he would not be a flight risk.

The case has been bound over to the grand jury to decide on specific charges.

Angela Peterson contributed to this report.