The prosecution delivered closing arguments Wednesday in the murder trial of Tahashi Matthews, linking witness testimonies to create a storyline for the night of the 2009 shooting.

Afterward, the jury deliberated for about five hours and will continue on Thursday.

Assistant District Attorney Clayton Jones emphasized what he said doesn’t add up in the testimony of Matthews, 35, who is accused in the Nov. 19, 2009, killing of Jonathan Nelson outside a University City apartment complex.

Jones told jurors in the Mecklenburg County Courthouse that after the defendant testified he was at the shooting, there was a “tipping point.”

“The identification of a person in that parking lot was no longer an issue,” Jones said. “The defendant said, ‘Yeah, that was me.’ The issue is: Who shot Jonathan?”

Last week, Nelson’s cousin Quinton Osborne testified that a man wearing a ski mask approached he and Nelson as they sat in a car. Osborne said the man shot twice and shouted demands, then fired at them as they drove away.

But Matthews took the stand last week and claimed it was Osborne who pointed the gun and tried to rob him. He said that Nelson was shot in a scuffle that followed.

Jones pointed out gaps in defense claims by summarizing the evidence that prosecution witnesses provided.

He recalled the testimony of a police officer who told jurors he heard glass break that night.

“(The officer) heard the third shot. He heard the shot that broke the window in Quinton’s car,” Jones said. “You want to know why he didn’t hear the first two shots? Because the gun was inside the car.”

DNA samples on the revolver belonged to at least three people, a forensics expert testified last week.

“You know what (the forensics expert) did say with certainty?” Jones asked. “Quinton Osborne’s DNA was not part of that mixture. Quinton Osborne’s DNA was not on the gun that he used to rob the defendant and shoot the defendant. On his own gun. Good Lord, folks. You own this gun, you shoot this gun and your DNA isn’t on the handle?”

“The defendant’s story is just that – a story,” Jones said.

Matthews is charged with first-degree murder, two counts of attempted armed robbery and possession of a firearm by a felon. If convicted of first-degree murder, he would be sentenced to life without parole.