A man charged with killing an Auburn University football player opened fire because the athlete also was shooting a gun during a party, a defense lawyer said on Monday. Markhale Hart, 22, was defending himself when 18-year-old Jakell Mitchell was shot to death in Auburn last month, said Mark Allen Treadwell, an attorney for Hart. 'It was absolutely self-defense,' he said in an interview after a hearing in Alexander City, Alabama on Hart's probation status. 'Today was a real glimpse of what this case is going to evolve into.' Auburn freshman football player Jakell Lenard Mitchell was shot and killed  at an apartment complex near the Auburn University campus last month
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Markhale Hart, 22, was defending himself when 18-year-old Jakell Mitchell was shot to death last month, said an attorney for Hart today
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Hart acknowledged killing the player during a late-night party at an apartment complex in Auburn on December 14, according to testimony
Treadwell said a statement by @placeholder and a police investigation showed that Mitchell fired several shots with a .45-caliber handgun, and Hart fired a .40-caliber weapon.