An off-duty security guard tearfully testified on Tuesday about his harrowing experience at the bottom of a human pile in a packed stairwell at the E2 night club in February 2003.

"I tried to move into a fetal position to save myself," Rafael Pellot Jr. told a rapt courtroom.  "[A young woman] was grabbing my hand. I told her to pray, not to talk anymore, to breathe through her nose."

He vividly described how she panicked, moaned, gripped his chin, and died.

Pellot's emotional recounting, under the questioning of Assistant Cook County State's Attorney Patrick McGuire, took place on the sixth day of the trial of club operator Calvin Hollins Jr., manager Calvin "Nicky" Hollins III and party promoter Marco Flores. Each man is charged with 63 counts of involuntary manslaughter for reckless failure to maintain a safe business. The Feb. 17, 2003, tragedy resulted in the deaths of 21 people crushed as they rushed to leave the club after a fight broke out.

Pellot, who worked security at E2 for about six months prior to the incident but was off-duty at the time, is being sued in civil court for his role in the tragedy as part of a security detail hired by E2 called Team One.

In cross examination, Tom Breen, lawyer for Hollins Jr., tried to deflect blame from his client by stressing the independent leadership of Pellot's security team. He also threw Pellot's reliability into question by asking him about his lawyer for the civil suit, Raul Villalobos, who is also the lawyer for defendant Marco Flores, who promoted the E2 party.

After Pellot told Breen he wasn't associated with the defendants because “the Lord gave me a second chance at life,” Breen asked: "Did the Lord ask you to talk to Raul Villalobos? Did the Lord give you Raul Villalobos' business card?"

Though the cases against Hollins Jr., Hollins III and Flores are being tried simultaneously, a conviction for one does not necessarily mean a conviction for all. Each man has chosen a bench trial, meaning Cook County Circuit Judge Dennis Porter, not a jury, will determine their innocence or guilt.

The DJ on the night of the incident also testified Tuesday, describing the club as prone to fights but operating as usual in the early morning of Feb. 17. Most people in the club, including himself, didn't know what was going on in the stairwell, Vaughn Woods said. "The music was still playing, people were still partying."

Both witnesses testified about a rear door that remained locked at all times. According to Pellot and Woods, it was used only occasionally and able to be opened with a key. Hollins III, they said, along with several other people, had the key. One of the prosecution's main arguments is that more exits should have been visible and open, potentially avoiding the overcrowded front exit.

A fourth defendant, club owner Dwain Kyles, is awaiting trial while the prosecution appeals the use of key evidence against him. Tommy Brewer, Kyles' lawyer along with R. Eugene Pincham, is watching the current trial closely.

"We want to see [the defendants] win," he said. "The outcome may have some bearing on our case."