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UPDATE: Son of accused murderer says dad disposed of bag on day of killing
NWI Times
Jan 11, 2018
VALPARAISO — The now-13-year-old son of accused murderer Kevin Campbell told jurors Thursday afternoon that on the day his mother was killed, his father discarded a grocery bag at a park while taking him to school.
The son said he had stayed at his father's home in Hobart the night before.
"We stopped in front of a playground, and he grabbed a bag and threw it away," he testified.
When asked by Porter County Deputy Prosecutor Cheryl Polarek if he knew what was inside the bag, the younger Campbell said he did not.
The elder Campbell is accused of murdering Tiara Thomas — the mother of three of his children — on the morning in question. His son's testimony came on the second day of evidence in his trial.
The boy also testified that his father asked him as he picked up the children the day before the killing to bring along a key to Thomas' Portage apartment where she was found shot early on Nov. 18, 2015.
His father had also questioned him about the work schedule of Marqtell Robinson, the fiance of Thomas, who lived with her and the children.
When questioned further by defense attorney Susan Severtson, the younger Campbell said his father asked about the key because he was concerned the boy would be locked out of the apartment when returning home from school.
"I was already going to bring my key," he said.
But the teen was unable to tell prosecutors if his father had ever before reminded him to bring the key.
Earlier in the day, Robinson testified he never left his overnight work shift in Hammond on the day Thomas was fatally shot at their Park Place apartment in Portage.
Robinson testified Thomas sent him a text message shortly before 5 a.m. that morning, but he was unable to reach her by telephone as he drove home after leaving work at 7 a.m.
He said he was confused when he found the couple's apartment door unlocked when he arrived home and was shocked to find Thomas lying on the floor in a fetal position over the top of a fan. When he grabbed her hand, a bullet shell fell out of her wrist.
"That's when I realized something was wrong," Robinson said following a break in his testimony after he broke down in tears.
Campbell, a former Hammond and Gary police officer, is accused of murdering Thomas following a contentious breakup in their relationship and an order to pay an increased amount of $1,400 a month in child support.
Campbell appeared to tear up during both testimonies.
Severtson questioned Robinson about Thomas' job at a family business that monitors convicts.
Robinson said he was surprised to learn after her death that Thomas had a firearm in the apartment.
While Robinson testified that he thought Thomas may have left the apartment door unlocked while doing laundry, he told Severtson that there was no indication she had done laundry and that the assumption was just his attempt to make sense of the situation.
What did raise his suspicion was Campbell making the unusual move of picking up his three children to stay overnight with him the day before the shooting, he said. He typically only picked up the children on weekends, if at all, he said.
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