Trial begins for man accused of killing off-duty Racine Police Officer John Hetland

MILWAUKEE (CBS 58) -- Opening statements began Tuesday, Sept. 22, in the Dalquavis Ward trial.

Ward is accused of killing off-duty Racine Police Officer John Hetland.

Prosecutors say surveillance video and Ward's DNA ties him to the scene of Hetland's murder.

Prosecutors say 27-year-old Dalquavis Ward shot and killed Officer Hetland in June of last year.

The shooting happened at Teezers Bar and Grill in Racine.

Forty-nine-year-old Hetland was off-duty at the time.

Prosecutors say the state crime lab processed the scene for 12 hours, finding an enormous amount of evidence.

They say Ward was caught on camera touching several doorknobs with an ungloved hand.

DNA was also found on Hetland, believed to be from a scuffle before the shooting.

"They received a match, so they say the DNA of this defendant is on the right side of John Hetland's neck and on that private doorknob," said Kenosha District Attorney Michael Graveley.

"There's no evidence that Dalquavis Ward had ever been in Teezers before," said Ward's attorney, Charles Glynn. "And you'll hear that the officers and the investigators obviously checked for that, any way that they could prove that he had."

Court is expected to pick back up Wednesday, Sept. 23 at 8:30.

We aren't sure what will happen in court Wednesday, but we do have access to a witness list of 57 witnesses that was filed back in December.