The defense started to make its case Friday in the trial of the man accused of killing a woman at the Galleria Mall.

Phillip Grant, a convicted sex offender, is accused of brutally stabbing Connie Russo Carriero to death in the parking garage of the mall in June 2005. Grant confessed to police that he killed Carriero because she is white. The defense says the statement Grant made to police is full of lies.

The defense also tried to convince the jury that another person was at the scene of the crime. They called a witness who saw a man in dreadlocks in the parking garage at the time of the murder, but that doesn?t fit the description of Grant. The witness went on to say she couldn?t positively identify the man she saw. Grant?s lawyer argued the DNA evidence presented by the prosecution was inconclusive.

Related Information DNA expert says accused Galleria Mall murderer had blood on his hands