A Kansas City, Kan., man testified Friday that a Douglas County murder defendant confessed to shooting a Lawrence hip-hop artist.

Demario Eatman, who is facing a federal weapons charge, said that when he was a cell mate with Major C. Edwards Jr., Edwards told him he shot and killed Anthony “Clacc” Vital, 28, in October 2006 in Lawrence.

“He said he rode around with him for the night so nobody wouldn’t think nothing when he finally killed him,” Eatman said.

Vital’s body was found west of Lawrence in October 2006, and the coroner has testified he was shot three times. Eatman said that while he was in custody and around Edwards in Leavenworth and Fort Worth, Texas, Edwards told him he and Durrell A. Jones, of Kansas, City, Kan., shot Vital over a disagreement about a woman and some music.

Douglas County District Judge Robert Fairchild has heard evidence to try to decide whether Edwards and Jones should face a trial on first-degree murder charges.

Douglas County Sheriff’s officers testified earlier that they found items near Vital’s body that matched DNA from Jones and Edwards.

Attorneys will make final arguments to Fairchild later.