A horrifying 911 call revealed the final moments of murdered professional cyclist Moriah “Mo” Wilson, where her panicked friend told dispatchers that “her brain is leaking.”
The eerie 911 call was played in court Wednesday during the murder trial of yoga instructor Kaitlin Armstrong, 36, who is accused of shooting her love rival Wilson in May 2022 after learning she was texting her boyfriend, Colin Strickland .
Armstrong allegedly opened fire at the home of Wilson’s friend Caitlin Cash, where the cyclist was discovered lying in a pool of blood in her bathroom, prompting a panicked 911 call that was played for the jury.
“Her brain is leaking,” Cash said in the audio. “I just came in and she’s on the bathroom floor and there’s blood everywhere. I can’t tell you what happened.’
Cash took the stand to testify and said she saw Wilson’s “feet sticking out of the bathroom,” and that’s when she “realized something was seriously wrong.”
Yoga teacher Kaitlin Armstrong imagined entering the courtroom Wednesday for opening statements in her murder trial
Kaitlin Armstrong is accused of fatally shooting Moriah “Mo” Wilson on May 11, 2022, in Austin after discovering Wilson was texting her boyfriend
The shooting broke out on May 11, 2022, after Wilson returned home from swimming and dinner with Strickland.
Wilson, a professional cyclist, was not living in Austin at the time and had traveled to the city for a race. At the time, she was hailed as one of the country’s most promising female off-roaders.
After Wilson was shot dead in Cash’s home, Armstrong was initially questioned by police but was released due to a paperwork problem because an officer incorrectly entered her date of birth on a form.
The yoga instructor, who has pleaded not guilty, spent 43 days in Costa Rica after the shooting and also attempted a daring jailbreak earlier this month before her trial began.
During her time on the run, Armstrong underwent plastic surgery and dyed her hair to change her appearance.
Cash testified that when she arrived home the night Wilson was killed, she initially did not realize the seriousness of the situation and called out to greet her.
When she received no response, Cash said she approached Wilson in her bathroom and thought the sight of her on the floor was because “she had gotten really hot and was laying on the tile.”
But after seeing her friend lying in a pool of blood, Cash said she “immediately leaned over and tried to wake her up.”
“Pretty quickly I called 911,” she added.
Wilson was hailed as one of the most promising off-road cyclists in America at the time of her murder
US Marshals launched a massive manhunt for Armstrong after she fled, who remained on the run for 43 days before being extradited to the US from Costa Rica
She said the last text she got from Wilson was around 5 p.m. that day, saying she planned to “go swimming” with Strickland.
According to a police affidavit, Strickland had lied to Armstrong about his whereabouts that night.
However, the yoga instructor had access to his messages on a laptop at their home because prosecutors said Armstrong tracked Wilson’s movements on the night of the murder using the exercise app Strava before stopping her car near Cash’s apartment in Austin.
When Cash was questioned about the shocking scenes, much of the attention focused on Wilson’s relationship with Strickland, who prosecutors said had an “on-again, off-again” relationship with Armstrong.
Friends of Wilson said the cyclist and Strickland were dating around October 2021, when he was reportedly on a break from Armstrong, but the two were not romantically together when they met again the night of the killing.
After the panicked 911 call was played in court, the jury also viewed gruesome bodycam footage of the responding officer performing CPR on Wilson.
The day before her testimony, heartbreaking footage showed Cash breaking down in tears as she was comforted by members of Wilson’s family and friends as court broke for lunch.
Caitlin Cash (right) hugs Mo Wilson’s family members during the trial of the cyclist’s alleged killer
The trial got underway this week as both sides made opening arguments to the jury, with prosecutors claiming Armstrong stood over Wilson and shot her “in the heart” in an explosive start to the case.
Armstrong appeared in court with what appeared to be dyed hair, having previously dyed it a darker color and undergone plastic surgery last year while on the run.
Prosecutors became irate and objected as Armstrong’s attorneys went through their comments, saying they would focus on “reason, doubt and common sense.”
The yoga instructor’s lawyers said she fled from Austin to New York and then to Costa Rica after being questioned by police because she was “passionate about travel and yoga.”
They said Armstrong began to fear for her safety after “weird things” happened to her, but claimed she did not know police were looking for her.
Prosecutors countered that Armstrong Googled himself while on the run in Costa Rica.
In their chilling opening statements, prosecutors said: “The last thing Mo did on this earth was scream in fear. You’ll hear those screams.’
“There is a surveillance camera with audio going through it,” the attorneys added, citing evidence played in court Wednesday.
‘We’ll play it for you. You’ll hear that scream. You’ll also hear “pam, pam,” the prosecutor said, clapping to imitate the sound of gunshots.
Texas Attorney Rickey Jones claps his hands to imitate the sound of a gunshot as he delivers opening arguments during the first day of the Texas trial of Kaitlin Armstrong
“Kaitlin Armstrong stood over Mo Wilson and fired a third shot straight into Mo Wilson’s heart,” he said.
It was also revealed that two of the three shell casings from the shooting were quickly located, before a third was later found in a tiled floor where Wilson had been lying.
The shell casings, prosecutors said, matched a 9mm Sig Sauer pistol owned by Armstrong.
Prosecutors say they also plan to present testimony from Strickland about his romance with Armstrong and his friendship with Wilson.
Strickland went into hiding after the murder while Armstrong was on the run, and is said to have hidden his previous affair with Wilson from her.