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Evidence, autopsy indicate how Portage woman died, officials say at murder trial
Post-Tribune
January 16, 2018
Evidence and autopsy results pointed investigators to the "most likely" scenario of how a Portage woman died in her apartment two years ago, according to a detective.
"It appeared she had been ambushed in her bedroom while lying in bed," said Detective Scott Harmeling, of Portage police.
Harmeling took the stand Tuesday in the second week of Kevin Campbell's murder trial at the Porter County courthouse in Valparaiso.
Campbell, 33, of Hobart, is accused of fatally shooting Tiara Thomas, 30, Nov. 18, 2015, in the apartment she shared with her fiance in the Park Place apartment complex.
Harmeling walked jurors through photos he took of the scene that day and how he concluded the shooting probably unfolded.
The detective said Thomas may have used a pillow on her bed to try to protect her from the first gunshot. After the gun misfired and the killer had to clear the chamber, Harmeling said she was shot in her forearms that were probably raised in front of her.
The killer then used another pillow to "suppress the sound of the gunshot" as she was shot in the head, Harmeling concluded.
Jurors viewed photos of the casings and unfired bullets the detective found on the bed and floor at the scene that led him to this scenario.
One bullet went through the mattress and box spring and into the carpet on the floor, he said. The photos also showed "blood smears on the wall" underneath a window in the bedroom, and there were "two large pools of blood" in front of the closet where Thomas was found, he said.
The gunshot to the back right side of her head caused "extensive brain injury," and a copper fragment was recovered from her hair during the autopsy, said Dr. Zhuo Wang, of the Lake County coroner's office, who performed her autopsy.
Campbell wiped away tears as prosecutors went through the autopsy photos like he did during opening arguments.
Last week, Thomas' fiance, Marqtell Robinson, 22, described how he came back after working a midnight shift to find Thomas dead in their apartment.
Thomas' and Campbell's 13-year-old son described how Campbell had stopped at a park to dispose of a plastic bag while taking his son to school the morning Thomas was found dead.
The boy also said Campbell had previously asked him to bring his apartment key with him to Campbell's home and about Robinson's work schedule.
Harmeling said he checked the windows and doors in the apartment and there were no signs of forced entry. Thomas' purse was also still in the apartment with money and credit cards inside, indicating "this wasn't a robbery," he said.
Investigators learned Thomas had a loaded Kel-Tec Luger 9 mm semiautomatic pistol on the top shelf under a pile of clothes in her closet, according to Harmeling.
"It was not consistent with the rounds found at the scene," Harmeling said.
Campbell's trial continues Wednesday.
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