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Post-Tribune (IN)
July 11, 2017
www.newsbank.com
At a hearing Monday, a Porter County judge pushed an August trial for a former police officer accused of killing his ex-girlfriend to January.
Kevin Campbell, 32, previously pleaded not guilty to a murder charge in connection with the 2015 shooting death of the mother of his three children, Tiara Thomas, 30.
Thomas was found with gunshot wounds to her chest, head and both wrists the morning of Nov. 18, 2015, at the Portage apartment she shared with her fiance in the Park Place apartment complex.
She died a short time later at a Gary hospital.
Campbell was scheduled to begin a three-week jury trial Aug. 8, and his attorney, Susan Marie Severtson, said Monday there are 55 anticipated witnesses. Given the lengthy list of witnesses filed by the prosecution last month and "complicated circumstantial evidence" in the case, Severtson asked Monday the trial be continued.
Severtson also said attorneys were "cautiously optimistic" they'd be able to get through all of the witnesses in the three weeks allotted for the trial.
Judge Roger Bradford then pushed the trial to January and added a fourth week. The trial is scheduled to begin Jan. 9, lasting three days a week for four weeks, according to Bradford.
Campbell is scheduled to appear for a pretrial hearing Dec. 11.
When Campbell was arrested, Portage police said there may have been a financial motive involved. Campbell's vehicle had been repossessed and he and Thomas argued about child support payments, according to charging documents.
Police also found numerous voice mails from creditors on Campbell's cellphone, and he had a bank account balance of $7.58 when Thomas died, court documents said.
Campbell was terminated from the Hammond Police Department five days after Thomas' body was discovered. He previously worked as an officer with the Gary Police Department.
Campbell is being held in the Porter County Jail without bond.
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