On June 11, 2022, Courtenay Whitelaw left her home around 8 p.m. to pick her daughter Riley Whitelaw up from work at a nearby Walgreens, something she said she would do often when her daughter had work. But when Courtenay Whitelaw arrived at the store, instead of her daughter she was met with a swarm of police cars outside the store, and the news that her daughter had been killed.

Those were the remarks of Courtenay Whitelaw during her testimony Thursday morning, in what was a highly emotional second day of trial.

Joshua Johnson, 29, is accused of killing his co-worker, 17-year-old Riley Whitelaw, last year in a Walgreens

breakroom in northwestern Colorado Springs.

Courtenay Whitelaw was the first of many witnesses, from friends, family and co-workers of Riley Whitelaw to give testimony Thursday.

The primary objective from prosecutors was clear, to establish that Johnson had made numerous unwanted advances toward Riley Whitelaw in the months preceding her death, and that Riley Whitelaw was made uncomfortable by the advances.

“She got a weird vibe from him (Johnson), her impression was maybe he liked her,” Courtenay Whitelaw said during her testimony. “There were more concerns as she was there longer.”

Courtenay Whitelaw spoke to prosecutors about how her daughter was upset with how Johnson spoke to her at work, and that Johnson had touched her bottom without her consent while working in the past.

Several friends of Riley Whitelaw’s also testified on Thursday, stating that they had been told about Johnson by Whitelaw in the past, and that in the months before her death Riley Whitelaw told her friends that Johnson had confessed his feelings for her.

The prosecution played video messages Riley Whitelaw sent to her friends where she can be heard calling Johnson “pedo-josh” and describing him as “creepy,” “unprofessional,” and “disgusting.”

“I’m extremely uncomfortable with Josh,” Whitelaw wrote in one message to her friend, Rebekah Wheeler.

“He made gross comments and did gross things to me,” Riley Whitelaw said in an audio message to her friend, Jordan Swain.

During cross-examination of these witnesses, Johnson’s defense attorneys asked if Riley Whitelaw expressed that she was fearful of Johnson, or if she ever felt unsafe. All of the witnesses confirmed that Riley Whitelaw never expressed the feeling of being unsafe, just that she was uncomfortable with Johnson.

Testimony from several witnesses on Thursday stated that Riley Whitelaw was unsure how best to handle the situation with management at Walgreens, asking her former manager for advice, as well as her friends in various text messages displayed to the jury.

Justin Zunino, the manager at Walgreens prior to Riley Whitelaw’s death, stated during his testimony Thursday that in December 2021, Riley Whitelaw informed him that Johnson had allegedly said something about how Whitelaw “wanted to be dominated” in a sexual context. Zunino testified that because of the incident Riley Whitelaw was no longer scheduled to work at the same time as Johnson, and that he spoke with Johnson and informed him that if he ever did it again “there would be consequences.”

Zunino went on to say that Riley Whitelaw was put back on the schedule with Johnson a few months later after she approached him to about getting more hours at work. Zunino said that to accommodate her request, Riley Whitelaw would have to begin working with Johnson again, which she said would be OK.

Earlier in the day, Courtenay Whitelaw testified that she felt not enough was done when her daughter expressed concerns about Johnson to management. While Zunino was testifying about actions taken against Johnson, or the lack thereof, Courtenay Whitelaw could be seen in the front row of the courtroom shaking her head in disagreement.

The jury heard testimony from co-workers and friends of Riley Whitelaw that in the weeks leading up to her death Johnson had become angry and short with her, something that Riley Whitelaw speculated herself to friends was because Johnson was jealous.

Zunino testified that the only time Riley Whitelaw brought up issues with Johnson after the initial complaint in December was a few weeks prior to her death where Riley Whitelaw had complained that Johnson was being “short” with her at work.

Riley Whitelaw’s boyfriend Jake Leacock, who also worked at Walgreens at the time, testified that Johnson was usually angry and mad when interacting with him and his girlfriend.

The final witness of the day Crystal Ishmael, a shift supervisor at Walgreens who was working the day of Riley Whitelaw’s death, stated that in the days leading up the incident Johnson seemed “very distant” and “upset.”

The cross-examination of Ishmael will kick off the trial on Friday morning, as her testimony wasn’t able to be completed before the end of the day. Johnson faces one charge of first-degree murder for allegedly killing Riley Whitelaw, if convicted he will be sentenced to life in prison.

Johnson appeared to court in custody of the El Paso County jail wearing the same black suit he wore for the trial’s first day of testimony on Wednesday.