Valerie Bauerlein

She saw the road raging with Weldon Boyd.

And she saw the shooting on Camp Swamp Road.

Boyden-Williams' lawyer described her as, quote, The lawyers on both sides wanted Blaze Ward to testify in court.

But for months before the hearing, Ward had gone dark.

She didn't respond to phone calls, door knocks, or subpoenas.

But at the last minute, Ward surfaced.

Rather than coming into court to testify, though, she agreed to sit for a recorded deposition.

That happened on Friday the 13th, just days before the hearing started.

On behalf of the Spivey family, Mark Tinsley asked the first questions.

And almost from the get-go, Ward starts backtracking on the things she told police.

Ward explained that from the moment she saw Spivey's gun, she was terrified.

Very much.

In the deposition, Ward said that her fear caused her to perceive things that weren't accurate.

For instance, in the 911 call, Ward said that she was trying to get away from Spivey's truck, but she realized later that that was impossible because she was driving behind him.

Then, Ward backtracks on a much bigger claim she'd made to police, that she saw Scott Spivey shoot his gun at Weldon Boyd's truck.

Ward now says that she didn't actually see Spivey fire his weapon.

What she saw was glass popping off Boyd's windshield.

And because she'd only seen Spivey with a gun, she assumed that he was the one shooting.

That's good.

Boyd and William's side long saw Blaise Ward as a critical witness.