• Shay McCowan, sister of the suspect and girlfriend of the victim, chokes up, while testifying in court on Monday.

INGHAM COUNTY - Connor McCowan displayed raw emotion as his older sister Shay McCowan took the stand Monday afternoon at Ingham County Circuit Court.

Connor is charged with allegedly murdering Michigan State University senior Andrew Singler on Feb. 23 of last year.

Shay and Singler lived together for a portion of their two-year relationship. She said they fought fairly often and there was even one occasion their fight turned physical.

“Andrew shoved me on the bed and pulled a sheet over my head and hit me so hard that I had a hand print on my stomach for about three or four days,” said Shay, sister of the suspect and girlfriend of the victim.

Despite everything, Shay still called Singler her best friend.

She also went into detail about the relationship between her brother Connor and boyfriend Singler. She said they were “just like brothers.”

Shay wasn’t the only family member to testify Monday afternoon. Randy McCowan, father of Connor and Shay McCowan, took the stand as well.

Randy also discussed the relationship he shared with Singler and said he was “like a son” to him.

In his testimony, Randy said he awoke to Connor at about 4 a.m. on Feb. 23. Connor said there was a dispute that took place between him and Singler.

Throughout the course of the day’s testimonies, attorneys turned their attention to text messages between Connor and Singler just minutes before the fatal fight.

Doctors that worked on Singler's body after the incident also testified.

Dr. Ben Mosher, a trauma surgeon for Sparrow Hospital in Lansing who treated Singler that night, said Singler’s probability of survival was 10 percent when he arrived to the hospital around 4 a.m.

“He had no vital signs,” Mosher said. “He was not breathing on his own, he had no pulse, no electric activity. He was pretty much dead.”

The trial, however, is very much alive.

Prosecutors don’t think they will be done with this case until Friday due to more investigating and DNA testing.