Two co-defendants in a 2021 College Street homicide in Butler said they lied to police in previous statements, but testified truthfully Tuesday.

The co-defendants testified on the second day of the Common Pleas Court jury trial for Hassan L.R. Brack, 38, who Butler police charged with killing and robbing Hakeem Moran, 31, on Dec. 5, 2021 at his home at 109 College St.

Co-defendants Kahlil Z.H. Rippy Jr., 26, of Butler, and Brooke R. Fair Smith, 31, of Butler, are facing similar charges, but testified as part of an agreement with the district attorney’s office in which Rippy will be sentenced to serve 4 to 10 years in prison and Fair Smith will spend 3.5 to 10 years in prison.

Rippy said he is from Philadelphia, but moved to Butler in 2020 or 2021. He said he has known Brack since childhood and worked with him selling drugs in Butler.

On the morning of Dec. 5, Rippy said he went to Brack’s home on Virginia Avenue to get drugs to sell and was counting money when he overheard Brack and Fair Smith planning a robbery. He said he agreed to participate.

That evening, he said he returned to Brack’s home and they went to Moran’s home.

A recording from a surveillance camera near Brack’s home that was played in court showed him and Rippy leaving the home, getting into Brack’s Chrysler Pacifica with Brack driving and leaving for Moran’s home.

Rippy said they parked near Moran’s home and Brack received a text message from Fair Smith, who arrived earlier, telling him who else was in the home, and that she was leaving and they could enter. He said he saw Fair Smith leave the home.

When they entered the home, Brack forced a man and a woman who were home downstairs, Rippy said. He said Brack pistol whipped the man when he resisted and the woman was crying, and Brack forced them into a bathroom.

Following Brack’s instructions, Rippy said he stood outside the bathroom and served as a lookout.

He said he began walking down the steps when he heard a commotion and saw Brack and Moran fighting from his position on the steps.

After the gun fell to the floor, Brack pulled a knife from the pocket of his hooded shirt and began stabbing Moran, he said.

“He was fighting for his life,” Rippy said about Moran.

Brack then picked up the gun and shot Moran, he said.

Rippy said he didn’t know Brack had brought a gun or a knife.

They then “booked” out of the house, he said.

“We ran outside and didn’t look back,” Rippy testified.

He said Brack handed him the knife and he dropped it under a car as they fled. Brack dropped the keys to the Pacifica when they were in the house, he said.

Rippy said he and Brack are the two people recorded by a surveillance video running down Linden Street, where the knife was found.

He said they went to a woman’s home where Brack called someone who picked them up. Rippy said he was dropped off at his home.

In his first statement to police, Rippy reported his father and Brack committed the crime. He said he implicated his father because he was mad at him. His father was living with Brack, he said.

In county prison in November 2024, he said he was pressured by other inmates to write a letter to Butler police saying Brack did not commit the crime.

Rippy said he gave a truthful account of the incident to police in a statement he wrote in February this year.

Fair Smith testified she first met Moran the morning of Dec. 5 when she went to his home to buy drugs after being referred to him by a friend. She said she was addicted to drugs at the time.

Later that day, she said she went to Brack’s home. She said she and Brack had a volatile dating relationship, which she ended the day before via text message.

Fair Smith said she told Brack that Moran was going to give her drugs to sell, but Brack said he wanted to rob him and she agreed to help.

The plan was for her to go to Moran’s home, get the drugs and then send Brack a text message saying “I love you’ that served as a signal that she was leaving and he and Rippy could enter, she said.

She said she left, walked to a nearby convenience store where another friend who drove her to Moran’s home was waiting to giver her a ride home, and she heard a gunshot as she got into the car.

Fair Smith also admitted to lying to police before eventually telling them the truth.

“I’m testifying because the truth needs to be told,” she said.

She testified the plan was to only rob Moran.