INDIANAPOLIS -- An Indianapolis man could face life in prison without parole if a judge finds him guilty of killing seven members of the same family during a botched robbery attempt.

Thirty-one-year-old Desmond Turner's murder trial started Monday in Marion Criminal Court.

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In the prosecution's opening statement, Marion County Prosecutor Carl Brizzi referred to the killings as a "massacre" and said "Desmond Turner is a killer,” who had told people he "wanted to rob the Mexicans,” 6News' Rafael Sanchez reported.

Prosecutors said Turner shot four adults and three children while looking for a safe full of money and drugs in an eastside home. There was no such safe.

Sobbing from family members could be heard in the courtroom as Brizzi detailed how the family of seven was found in their blood inside the home. Each had been shot multiple times, police said.

Still, defense attorneys maintain that Turner wasn't involved in the crime. In opening statements, Turner's attorneys argued that shoe prints found at the scene don’t match, and that other people in the neighborhood had ill will toward the family.

"The state can't give you evidence that Turner committed the crime," said attorney Lorinda Meir Youngcourt. "They don’t have the right man. Desmond Turner is not guilty."

The prosecution's first witness -- Michael Kermon, the first Indianapolis police officer on the scene -- took the stand just before 10 a.m. He testified that he entered the home after a woman met him outside, screaming in Spanish. He said the house smelled of blood and was hazy inside from freshly fired gunshots.

Family members cried as Kermon recounted how he found the bodies of the victims, particularly the children.

"I could see. It was pretty surreal," he said. "I could see kids lying on the bed. They were not moving. The kids were lying on the bed.”

Family members told Sanchez outside court that they expected some of the testimony to be difficult to listen to.

"He murdered seven people, three of them kids, two of them my brothers," Janie Covarrubias, whose father was also killed, said outside court. "What can someone who murdered seven people execution style say that will make me forgive him?"

Turner's mother, Brenda Baymon, also attended the trial, and spoke outside of court.

"I feel sorry about the family who lost their loved one. That's all I have to say," she told Sanchez.

Judge Robert Altice will decide Turner's innocence or guilt. Prosecutors had been seeking the death penalty for Turner until last month, when they announced a deal to drop it in exchange for Turner waiving his right to a jury trial.

The trial is expected to take about two weeks.

Rafael Sanchez will be updating this story from court, so check back frequently for updates and follow theindychannel on Twitter.