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Victim's 13-year-old son, fiance take stand in ex-cop's trial for murder of Portage woman
Chicago Tribune
Jan 11, 2018
The 13-year-old swiveled in his chair Thursday at the Porter County courthouse in Valparaiso as jurors and attorneys looked on.
"You know why you're here today, right?" asked prosecuting attorney Cheryl Polarek.
"Yes," the 13-year-old said.
In the second day of testimony, the son of a Portage woman killed in 2015 took the stand in his father's murder trial.
Kevin Campbell, 33, is accused of fatally shooting Tiara Thomas, 30, Nov. 18, 2015, in her Portage apartment she shared with her fiance, Marqtell Robinson, in the Park Place apartment complex.
On Thursday, Campbell wiped tears as the boy testified. Robinson bounced his leg as he had his arm around Thomas's mother, Lisa Mays, sitting prominently where the eighth grader could see the two.
The boy described how Kevin Campbell stopped at a park on the way taking him to school Nov. 18, 2015. Campbell got out and threw away a plastic bag, but the boy said he didn't know what was inside.
"I remember we parked right in front of the three blue slides," he said.
During opening arguments, Susan Marie Severtson, one of Campbell's defense attorneys, claimed Campbell had been sick and stopped to toss "dirty, snotty Kleenexes" from his vehicle.
Later at school, the principal pulled the 13-year-old out of class to talk to a Portage police detective, who drove him around to find the park before going home with his grandparents, the boy said.
"Did you hear some news about your mom?" Polarek asked.
"Yes," the boy said.
Robinson, 22, was visibly distressed watching the boy testify Thursday. The court had to take a break earlier that morning when Robinson sobbed while on the stand himself.
"I was planning on spending the rest of my life with her," Robinson said.
Thomas and Robinson set a wedding date for June 26, 2016, and Robinson said he looked at her three children "as my own."
"They love me. I love them," Robinson said.
Campbell picked up the three children on Nov. 17, 2015, and Robinson said he and Thomas decided to go to Red Lobster for dinner in Merrillville.
"I remember her walking over to me and doing Rock Paper Scissors to see who was going to drive," he laughed.
Robinson left around 10 p.m. for his midnight shift at work in Hammond, and the two texted a bit overnight, he said, including a message from Thomas at 4:56 a.m.
"That was the last text message she sent me," Robinson said.
Robinson said he called his fiance when he got off work at 7 a.m., but she didn't answer. He parked by her car and found the door was unlocked to the apartment, he said. Robinson joked he would fuss to Thomas about that.
"Did you have the opportunity to fuss at her?" Polarek asked.
"Not at all," Robinson said.
Robinson went in the apartment and could see their bedroom at the end of the hallway.
"I saw her feet," he said.
He told her she needed to get up for work, but her hand was cold when he tried to help her up, and a bullet casing fell from her wrist, Robinson said.
It was then he "noticed that actually something was wrong," seeing the blood on the wall and under Thomas.
"I remember my voice being so high pitched that the lady was actually calling me ma'am," he said about calling 911.
Portage police questioned Robinson at the police department, and Robinson said he understood "they were just doing their job."
Ted Uzelac, now the assistant police chief, said he "had bad news for me," Robinson said. Robinson said he grabbed and hugged Uzelac.
"I remember whispering in his ear, 'Did she pass?' And him nodding his head yes," Robinson said.
Robinson told police concerns he had about Campbell. Before Thomas died, Campbell asked his son about Robinson's work schedule, Robinson and the boy testified. Campbell also told his son to bring his apartment key with him Nov. 17, 2015, but the boy said he thought his father was just worried about him being forgetful.
"Did you at any point accuse Kevin Campbell of murdering your fiance?" Polarek asked.
"Not at all," Robinson said.
Campbell's trial resumes Tuesday in Valparaiso.
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