Following a three-day trial before Lycoming County President Judge Nancy Butts, a jury failed to reach a consensus on murder and other charges in the case against Dawud M. Rogers, 44, who authorities allege was the gunman in the shooting death of Michael William Blackwell, Wednesday afternoon, a court official confirmed.

With the jury hung, the case was declared a mistrial. It is unknown at this time what issues the jury were unable to resolve.

Attempts to reach officials in the District Attorney’s Office, as well defense counsel for Rogers are ongoing.

This is a developing story.

What was initially scheduled to be a week-long trial ended with closing arguments in the case beginning Wednesday morning.”This is an unfortunate situation in which a young man was shot and killed,” Rogers’ lead defense counsel Robert Hoffa opened to the jury.

“And unfortunately, it’s now your job to decide what happened that day,” he said.

Murder is rarely caught on video, Hoffa told the jury.

“I’m sorry that you had to see that and I’m sorry the victim’s family had to see that,” he said.

Referring back to his original description of a case as akin to a movie or novel, Hoffa methodically took on each witness presented by the prosecution, stressing that no witnesses exist who could positively identify Rogers as the shooter.

Additionally, he impressed upon the jury that initial reports indicated that the shooter fled in a Chevrolet Malibu, while Rogers owned a Volkswagen at the time.

The only witness to name Rogers as the killer was a friend who said he had spent time with earlier in the day, Hoffa told the jury.

In prior statements, including at Rogers’ preliminary hearing, that witness denied being able to identify Rogers due to the perpetrator donning a ski mask during the crime, Hoffa reiterated.

“He either lied during the preliminary hearing or he lied during this trial,” the defense attorney said.

“The key to this case is his credibility,” he said.

No witnesses or any other evidence was brought forth by the prosecution to corroborate the witness’ testimony that he was with Rogers all day, Hoffa said.

Despite this, even by the witness’ own admission, he did not see a gun, gloves or a ski mask when he was in the vehicle with Rogers, the attorney pointed out.

“The witness was not credible, not consistent and not believable,” Hoffa told the jury.

He further questioned the attack and robbery for which Blackwell, 31, was labeled as the perpetrator as a motive for the killing, noting that Rogers reported to both EMS personnel and police that he was attacked by several individuals and was unsure of their identities.

To that end, Hoffa circled back to a video Blackwell’s girlfriend at the time testified to receiving from him, which showed an individual in clothing consistent with social media pictures of Rogers lying on the ground, seemingly unconscious in an apparent parking lot.

Several people can be heard in the short video clip played for the jury.

Blackwell had many enemies, his former girlfriend testified, Hoffa stressed, noting that he was carrying a loaded hand gun at the time of the shooting.

Hoffa also took on cell phone data putting Rogers in the vicinity of the crime at the date and time it occurred, pointing out that the tower his phone connected to covered a large area of the city.

The data plotting Rogers’ trip to Philadelphia following the shooting was simply him traveling to be with his family for the New Year holiday, the defense attorney said.

“We don’t dispute a man was murdered in cold blood, it just didn’t happen the way the Commonwealth wants you to believe it did,” Hoffa told the jury, calling the state’s case “anticlimactic.”

Referencing his opening statement, First Assistant District Attorney Martin Wade took the jury through the robbery, the revenge and the retreat from the crime scene.

It is a fact that Rogers was robbed, Wade said, noting that he reported the thefts to the police while at the emergency room the night of the attack.

During the attack, Blackwell is alleged to have stolen two iPhones, $275 in cash, Rogers’ I.D. and a set of keys.

Consistent with Blackwell being the one to carry out the assault, were the injuries both he and Blackwell were treated for separately in the early morning hours following the attack.

Additionally, Blackwell identified Rogers as the man seen in the video sent to his girlfriend, Wade told the jury.

An interruption in Rogers’ phone activity corresponded with the date and time of the video, the ADA said.

The robbery gave Rogers a strong motive to retaliate due to the public nature of the assault, he argued.

Rogers withheld the identity of the assailant, making it sound like a gang had attacked him due to the embarrassment of having been knocked out by the punch of one man, and planned his own form of justice, Wade told the jury.

“He drove a car with tinted windows to make identification harder. He was lying in wait. It was a sneak attack and once Mr. Blackwell’s back was turned, he shot him multiple times, he said.

“It was overkill. He shot the victim enough times to kill multiple people,” Wade said, noting that several vital organs were damaged.

Rogers fired 12 rounds, with Blackwell being struck by seven of them, according to the ADA.

“Then, because he saw him move, the defendant made the deliberate decision to shoot him again,” Wade told the jury.

“This was a specific intent to kill Mr. Blackwell. The bullet marks on the pavement are consistent with Mr. Rogers aiming for the victim’s head from a distance,” he said.

Wade took on defense questioning of the witness’ credibility head on.

“Why would he lie? Why would he pick Dawud Rogers’ name out of thin air,” he asked the jury, stressing that there is no evidence of bad blood or a fallout between the two.

“And, I know this is going to blow your mind, but a gun can fit in your pocket and a mask in a glovebox,” Wade said.

Additionally, the general description given by the shooter being a tall, thin man fits the description of Rogers.

“It’s not reasonable. There’s no motive for him to falsely identify Rogers as the shooter,” Wade said.

Rogers and the witness drove to the auto shop together, and no additional persons were seen on surveillance video of the shooting getting into or out of the suspect vehicle, Wade reminded the jury.

Cell phone records confirm the fact that the witness and Rogers were in contact throughout the day, including hours after the murder.

That call was placed to the witness in order to see if he had given up Rogers as the killer and to see if police were looking for him, Wade said.

“Timing is very important,” Wade told the jury.

Rogers’ phone connected to a cell tower in the vicinity of the crime scene directly coinciding with the act, he stressed.

Immediately following the shooting, Rogers’ phone begins moving in a path that would take him to his mother’s house in Philadelphia, the prosecutor said.

“It would be an unlikely coincidence that Rogers would hightail it south within moments of the incident,” Wade said.

“What other reason would he have to leave so abruptly,” the ADA asked aloud.

“Dawud Rogers got robbed, he got even and he got out of town,” Wade told the jury.

“He had a strong motive to get even and he did so in a violent, deadly manner,” he concluded.