INDIANAPOLIS -- The trial of Desmond Turner, who prosecutors said killed seven people in an Indianapolis home in 2006, was filled with detailed, emotional testimony from teens who lived in the neighborhood at the time of the slayings.

Erica Gwinn (pictured), 18, testified that another man who lived in the area told her right before the shootings that Turner was going to "hit a lick," which is street slang for committing a robbery.

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"He nodded his head toward Emma's (Valdez) house," Gwinn said. "I told my aunt that something was about to go down with the Mexicans across the street."

Gwinn said her aunt told her to get the children in the house and said that she saw Turner drive his pickup truck to the house in which members of the Covarrubias and Valdez family were slain on June 1, 2006.

“I thought something bad was going to happen,” Gwinn said. "I heard gunshots. There were a lot -- more than 10.”

Gwinn testified that she didn't initially tell police about what she had seen and heard because she was afraid she would be killed.

"Desmond would kill us if we told," she said.

Gwinn's friend, Whitney Decker, who was 14 at the time of the shootings, testified that, from a home across the street, she saw a woman with her hands behind her head. Her former boyfriend, Justin Dobson, 18, said he saw the same thing and heard the woman scream, "My baby, not my baby."

Prosecutors said that woman was Flora Albarran, who had come to pick up her 5-year-old, Luis. Both were killed in the home.

Family members wept as they listened to the testimony. Marion County Prosecutor Carl Brizzi said the teens' testimony backs up his case.

"It is my fundamental responsibility to make sure that we prosecute the right person for the right crime," Brizzi said. "If I didn't believe with my entire heart and soul that we have the right people charged, we wouldn't be moving forward."

Turner sat quietly in court next to his attorneys. He could be sentenced to life in prison without parole if convicted.

Prosecutors are trying to build their case based on circumstantial evidence because there is no DNA evidence that links Turner to the killings.

Prosecutors had sought the death penalty until last month, when they announced a deal to drop that in exchange for Turner waiving his right to a jury trial.

As many as 160 witnesses could be called to the trial, which is expected to last two weeks.

6News will be updating this story from court, so check back frequently for updates and follow theindychannel on Twitter .