Opening arguments started Monday in White Plains for a teen accused of killing a woman in a drive-by shooting last year.

Anthony Burton is accused of opening fire last August on a Yonkers street, striking 19-year-old Jessica Santos, of Tarrytown. Burton, who was 17 at the time, allegedly fired five times outside a grocery store on Beech Street.

The victim's tearful mother, Gisela Marin, took the stand with tissues in hand. "It's a cold and heinous act," Marin said outside of court. "Anybody who can fire a gun at a group of people."

Burton's attorney, Barry Warhit, doesn't deny that his client shot Santos, but claims Burton was reckless rather than depraved.

"They'll hear evidence with regard to what Anthony was thinking," Warhit said. "They'll probably have the option of considering a manslaughter charge if they want."

Jurors are expected to hear a videotape confession that prosecutors believe will prove Burton's guilty of murder.

The defendant himself was shot a month before the incident.

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