BIRMINGHAM, Alabama - Two years ago, a disagreement over a $40 debt after a drug- and alcohol-fueled night of partying ended with three men being shot to death in a Pelham home, attorneys said Thursday.

On Sept. 9, 2012, Casey Lee Cumberland, 22, of Helena; Joshua Adam Smith, 22, of Pelham; and Simeon Gilmore, 19, of Birmingham, were found dead inside a home in the Chandalar subdivision.

Jon Ingram Staggs Jr., 22, is charged with seven counts of capital murder. His trial began this week before Shelby County Circuit Judge Dan Reeves and will resume with more testimony Friday at 9 a.m. Prosecutors are seeking the death penalty in the case.

Herbie Brewer and Lisa M. Ivey are representing Staggs. Shelby County District Attorney Jill Hall Lee and Assistant District Attorneys Roger Hepburn, Alan Miller and Jeff Bradley are prosecuting the case.

Jon Ingram Staggs Jr., 22, is on trial for capital murder in the 2012 shooting deaths of three men.

In opening statements Thursday, Hepburn and Brewer described slightly different events that led up to the shooting.

On Sept. 8, Cumberland, Smith and Gilmore went out in downtown Birmingham, along with Cumberland's sister Ashley. They met up with a friend named Jeremiah Mullins.

Staggs also went out that night - to sell drugs, according to Hepburn; just looking to have a good time, Brewer said.

Everyone ended up at Club NV. Cumberland and Smith were acquaintances of Staggs - all three grew up in Pelham. Staggs was "just being friendly" and bought the others drinks, Brewer said.

He gave marijuana to Gilmore, who promised to pay him $40 later, when they went to Smith's house for an after-party.

Staggs and Mullins pulled up at Smith's house on Chandabrook Lane, only to find that no one else had arrived. Calls to the others went unanswered.

As they grew impatient, Staggs walked around the home and broke a window. He took a television and a video game system and brought the items to a friend's house as "collateral," Brewer said.

Unbeknownst to Staggs, Casey and Ashley got into a heated argument on the drive home. They went to their home in Helena, where the fight escalated until their mother was called, Hepburn said.

After police responded to the domestic dispute, Gilmore drove Smith and Casey Cumberland back to Chandabrook Lane as the sun began to rise.

That morning, Staggs dropped Mullins off at home. On his way back to Chandalar, he drove by Smith's house, and, his judgment clouded by drugs and exhaustion, he decided to go inside to get his money, Brewer said. He put a gun in the back of his pants.

"He has no intent to kill but has the knowledge and common sense that someone could try to harm him," Brewer said.

All three were shot with a .45 caliber Glock.

Gilmore was shot in the living room. Casey was shot twice in an upstairs bedroom. He managed to get to the hallway before being shot again. Smith, asleep on a couch in the basement, was shot once, Hepburn said.

Staggs was taken into custody the afternoon of Sept. 9 after telling his mother and stepfather that he shot some people who tried to rob him.

"Jon Staggs executed three young men because he thought he'd been stiffed out of $40 for a drug deal," Hepburn said.

He said the case is not self-defense, and the shootings were not justified. Instead, he said, they were the result of "a whole lot of anger, a whole lot of arrogance and evil."

Staggs' story has been "totally consistent the whole time." He admitted to shooting them, but it is not a capital murder case, Brewer said.

Staggs told friends, his family and investigators that he was defending himself when he shot the other men. He felt threatened by Gilmore, who was 6'10" and 400 lbs., Brewer said.