By Lisa Roose-Church, Michigan.com

The wife of a Livingston County man shot dead in a road-rage incident testified this morning how she heard a pop and saw her husband fall like a marionette puppet whose strings had been cut.

Amy Flemming said her husband, Derek Flemming, was "standing there one moment" and then he was lying motionless on Grand River Avenue at the Chilson Road intersection, west of Howell.

"I saw the driver of the truck staring stone cold faced," she said during a preliminary examination in Howell District Court this morning, adding that neither she nor the driver, identified as Martin Edward Zale, spoke to each other.

"I stood with my husband. I had my hand over his heart," Amy Flemming said. "I could feel his heart beating. ... Even though I could feel his heart ... I knew he was dead."

District Judge Carol Sue Reader ruled there was probable cause to send the case to Circuit Court for trial.

The defense asked for an arraignment in Circuit Court, which is usually scheduled within a week or two of the preliminary hearing.

Also testifying Friday was Livingston County Sheriff's Deputy Ray Marino, who said as he approached Zale's Dodge Ram pickup truck, parked off to the side of Chilson Road, that another man came up to him, pointed to Zale, and said he was the shooter.

Marino said the witness claimed Zale had admitted that he shot Derek Flemming, Marino said he approached Zale and he indicated that he was calling his lawyer.

Zale, who is being held in jail without bond, is charged with open murder, discharging a pistol from a vehicle and two counts of possessing a pistol in the commission of the murder and the firing of the pistol in connection with the fatal shooting

Zale's attorney, Melissa Pearce, and family previously said the defendant had "every right to stand his ground." They say the defense has evidence and facts that support their position. However, they have not released that alleged evidence.

Flemming, 43, of Oceola Township, was shot once in the face Sept. 2 when he approached Zale's vehicle while both were stopped on Grand River Avenue at the Chilson Road traffic light in Genoa Township. He and his wife had eaten lunch and were on their way to pick up their two children from the first day of school when the shooting occurred.

Amy Flemming reported to police that Zale came fast down a side street toward their 2014 Ford Escape on Grand River Avenue and that he cut them off as he moved in front of them on Grand River Avenue. She said her husband was killed when he went to approach Zale at the stoplight about his driving.

No new court dates have been set.

Contact Daily Press & Argus reporter Lisa Roose-Church at 517-552-2846 or lrchurch@livingstondaily.com. Follow her on Twitter @LisaRooseChurch.