EUREKA ? A deputy who was with Greenwood County Sheriff Matt Samuels when he was fatally shot in 2005 testified Friday that the alleged shooter continued firing at him even as he attempted to perform first aid on the stricken sheriff.

Deputy Mike Mullins was among the first witnesses in the capital murder trial of Scott Cheever, who is accused of fatally shooting Samuels on Jan. 19, 2005, when Samuels attempted to arrest him at a house in Hilltop.

Mullins told the jury of 10 women and five men, including alternates, that he heard two shots from inside the house. He said he rushed in and found Samuels on the floor struggling to breathe.

Mullins said that as he attempted to help Samuels, a third shot whizzed by his head and he said he initially thought he’d been shot as well.

“I yelled up and told Scott to stop shooting, so I could get Matt out,” he testified.

Mullins and Deputy Tom Harm pulled Samuels out of the house and frantically called the dispatcher, telling them the sheriff was down. They said Samuels’ pistol was still in his holster.

Harm testified that when he called dispatch again, saying they needed help, the dispatcher asked how badly Samuels was injured.

“I think he’s already gone,” Harm testified.

Cheever, 26, could face the death penalty if he’s convicted.

Mullins said the day’s events began with a phone call from Linda Brewer, whose granddaughter was dating Cheever and who said she knew where Cheever was. She told Mullins that she knew Samuels had a warrant for Cheever’s arrest and that she wanted Cheever to stay away from her granddaughter.

Brewer then told Mullins that Cheever was staying at a house in Hilltop owned by Darrell and Belinda Cooper.

What Brewer didn’t know, prosecutor Lanny Welch told jurors in his opening address, was that her daughter, Rhonda O’Brien, called the Coopers to warn them that the sheriff was coming.

“And Scott Cheever waited,” Welch said.

Mullins said after the phone call he found Samuels at a nearby restaurant and told him Cheever’s location, As they set out for Hilltop, Samuels told dispatcher Diana Cole where he was headed.

Members of Samuels’ family cried as the dispatch call was played in the courtroom.

On the way, Samuels and Mullins met up with Harm, who would come along as backup as they believed Cheever was probably armed and doing methamphetamine.

Tim Frieden, Cheever’s public defender, told jurors that Cheever had been on a meth binge for two months, injecting the highly addictive drug into his veins.

Frieden said Cheever’s friends warned him that the sheriff was coming but that he didn’t believe them, thinking they wanted to steal the meth he’d been cooking all night.

Mullins testified that when they arrived on the scene, Samuels, 42, talked to Darrell Cooper, who said Cheever wasn’t there.

Samuels went back inside the house and Mullins said he heard the two gunshots.

Mullins said he ran back into the house and found the doorway blocked by a piece of carpet hanging over the door.

“I moved the carpet, and Matt was lying on the floor, looking up at me,” Mullins said.

Mullins said he began performing first aid as Samuels’ airway appeared to be blocked when a third gunshot went off.

“I felt the gunshot,” he said.

Testimony in the case is scheduled to resume on Tuesday.