OAKLAND — A key witness testified Thursday that he was told to stay behind in the midst of a 2015 kidnapping-turned-murder scene, and clean up the vast amounts of blood left behind.

“It looked like someone had been murdered,” he said, describing the volume of blood.

Two men are standing trial for the death of Reynaldo Vazquez, 24, who was on his way home from buying cigarettes when he was robbed at gunpoint, kidnapped, beaten, placed into the trunk of a car, then shot and killed near Joaquin Miller Park in the Oakland Hills on Sept. 30, 2015.

One witness, Louis Velasco, was originally charged with murder in the case but took a plea deal in exchange for his testimony. He took the stand on Thursday in the trial of his two former co-defendants, James E. Scott, 27, and Alejandro Garcia, 25. Six people were initially arrested and charged in the case, but worked out apparent plea deals in exchange for their testimony against the two defendants.

Throughout his testimony, Velasco pointed out both Garcia and Scott’s direct involvement in the kidnapping and brutal beating that led to Vazquez death, and his body being left in the hills.

Velasco described the turmoil between Vazquez and the other men in the case. Vazquez had sold Garcia his silver Mercedes in exchange for marijuana from Garcia. But later, the deal turned sour when some marijuana plants were stolen, and “neither one was happy about it,” Velasco said.

Weeks before Vazquez death, Garcia, and three other men suspected that Vazquez was responsible for shooting at them at a park. No one was injured, but the men were “very angry” and wanted to get them back, Velasco testified.

Then the night of Sept. 30, 2015, some of the men spotted Vazquez heading out to go to a corner shop on 38th Avenue and International Boulevard. Velasco thought they were just going to beat him up, but instead they surrounded him, Scott pointing a gun to the back of his head while another man went through his pockets, he said. Then the group, Velasco included, walked him at gunpoint to “the shop” a known marijuana grow house on 39th Avenue where they would all frequent.

Vazquez kept saying things by the likes of “why are y’all doing this? Let me go.” It was once inside the shop that Vazquez was brutally beaten, pistol-whipped multiple times by Scott and another man, the witness said.

“He was basically begging for his life. Pleading not to do it, because he had a daughter,” Velasco testified.

The coroner’s office determined Vazquez suffered from extensive blunt force trauma to his head, limbs and torso and was bleeding from the head even before he was shot.

“That moment seemed to last forever,” Velasco said.

Garcia allegedly told Velasco to get a rope, so they could tie Vazquez up. They ended up trying to hog-tie him, but ended up wrapping the rope around his body, making him defenseless.

Velasco admitted to backing up the silver Mercedes into the warehouse so the men could put Vazquez in the trunk. He said he refused to go with them, because he knew “something bad was going to happen.” He was instead told to stay behind and clean up the blood.

“It was a lot of blood everywhere… the whole shop smelled like iron pennies,” he said.

He found bleach and another cleaner, poured it on the blood, and then used clothes from a bag he had found to mop it up. Vazquez Nike-branded shoes were left behind, and Velasco admitted to throwing them on the roof of the warehouse-like building, which was caught on video surveillance.

When one of the men who went to the Oakland Hills came back, he asked what happened. They said they “took care of it.” Velasco said he found out through social media that Vazquez was dead.

In the weeks following the attack, he said he was confronted by another former co-defendant, Armani Miller, who told him to “keep his mouth shut” and showed him a gun. He took it as a threat on his life.

In exchange for his truthful testimony, Velasco said he plead guilty to murder. If a judge determines his testimony to be truthful, he may be allowed to rescind that plea and plead instead to voluntary manslaughter– where he would face a maximum of 11 years in state prison.

Other defendants originally charged in this case are also expected to testify during the trial.

The trial continues next week in the courtroom of Alameda County Superior Court Judge Mark McCannon.