Jurors on Tuesday heard testimony describing in graphic detail the moments before Tracy Dean Lautenschlager’s death.

Joshua Back, 34, is accused of fatally stabbing 45-year-old Lautenschlager the morning of May 25, 2015, and he faces felony charges of second-degree murder and theft.

Joshaua Lee Back

Just after 6 a.m. on May 25, 2015, Lawrence Police Officer Peter Kirby responded to a report of a stabbing at a McDonald’s restaurant at 1309 W. Sixth St., he told jurors Tuesday morning. At the time of the report Kirby was within 1,000 feet of the restaurant, he said.

Pulling up to the scene Kirby said he found Lautenschlager sitting on the east side of the parking lot with blood ‘gushing’ or ‘spewing’ from his neck.

“It was coming out very fast,” he said. “Like a waterfall.”

During Kirby’s testimony, prosecutors showed video taken from his police car and the car of another officer who arrived on scene quickly.

In the video, Kirby arrived in the parking lot and rushed on foot to meet Lautenschlager, who was seated upright, wearing blue shorts, a gray shirt and no shoes.

At the time, blood was visible on Lautenschlager’s clothes and running down his legs.

Kirby told jurors he noticed a knife in the grass as he approached Lautenschlager.

“I asked him if he stabbed himself,” Kirby said. “He stated, ‘I’m about to pass out.'”

In the video, Lautenschlager’s voice could not be heard. He laid down shortly after police arrived and his eyes rolled back in his head, Kirby said.

“Stay with me,” Kirby said to Lautenschlager multiple times during the incident.

Lautenschlager was transported to Lawrence Memorial Hospital, where he was declared dead within the hour.

Upon later inspection it was discovered the knife found at the scene appeared to be unused, Kirby said.

Throughout the rest of the day Tuesday, officers testified as to what they found around the parking lot and the trail of blood leading from Lautenschlager to a nearby home at 700 Arkansas St.

Prosecutors and defense attorneys disagreed little, if at all, about the details offered by testifying officers. The two sides differed, however, on what happened earlier that morning and into the previous night.

The night of May 24, leading into the morning of May 25, 2015, Back and others traveled between the Arkansas Street home — where an acquaintance named Shawna Radcliffe lived — and the home of another acquaintance, Sean McCawley, at 3009 Steven Drive, Senior Assistant District Attorney Amy McGowan told jurors. Back was looking for some of his property.

Unable to find what he was looking for, McGowan said, Back returned to the Arkansas Street home early that morning, intending to steal a truck.

During a police interview after he was arrested, Back told investigators he was confronted by Lautenschlager and another man, McGowan told the jury. Feeling threatened, Back took a knife from his waistband and slashed in the direction of Lautenschlager.

But Back’s story throughout this police interview is inconsistent, and the evidence will show Lautenschlager’s wounds don’t reflect a slashing motion, McGowan told jurors.

“What you’re going to hear about this wound is this is not a slashing type wound,” she said. “This knife wound is a penetration, stab, and then a slicing along the neck.”

After the confrontation, Back fled in the stolen pickup truck, McGowan added. He would later speak about stabbing someone in the neck with other acquaintances.

During his opening statements, Back’s defense attorney, Dakota Loomis, told jurors they would later be shown a video of Back’s police interview. That interview would show Back telling police he was physically confronted by Lautenschlager and another man he couldn’t identify. In addition, McCawley, who was present earlier that morning, is a self-appointed trained killer, Loomis said.

Asking Back to stand for the jury, Loomis explained that he is not a tall man, describing him as 5-foot-3 or 5-foot-4. With his small stature, the physical confrontation and the knowledge of possibly dangerous people around, Loomis said the evidence points to self-defense rather than murder.

Other witnesses called Tuesday included Radcliffe and Jacqueline Dunn, who also lived at the Arkansas Street home at the time.

Both Radcliffe and Dunn testified that they, Back and others smoked methamphetamine and marijuana that morning and that the attitude within the home never escalated to an aggressive level that they could recall.

Back remains in the Douglas County Jail in lieu of $750,000 bond. The trial is scheduled to resume at 9 a.m. Wednesday.

An address in this story has been changed to reflect the correct location of one home at 3009 Steven Drive.