Shell casings, texts, calls are evidence as jury deliberates in murder of a Lexington teen
A jury is out to determine whether two young men are guilty of the murder of 18-year-old Caleb Hallett, who died in a robbery attempt that turned deadly in January 2016.
Marquess L. “Hector” Smith, 26, and Marique Q. Sturgis, 25, are charged with murder, assault and robbery in the death of Hallett, who died at the University of Kentucky Chandler Hospital after he was shot. He would’ve been 26 this year.
A prosecutor and two defense attorneys lobbied the jury during closing arguments Tuesday, which lasted nearly three hours in total, and featured both sides pointing the finger at each other.
The evidence: Shell casings, texts, calls
The trial for Smith and Sturgis started last week, with testimony beginning Nov. 8. Prosecutors used evidence to attempt to prove five people — two men and three minors — coordinated this attack that ended with Hallett’s death. Fayette Commonwealth’s Attorney Kimberly Baird relied on cell phone evidence and ballistics casings to show that Smith shot Hallet, and Sturgis shot another victim who did not die in the incident.
She also had Lexington Police Department detectives testify to the jury.
The evidence primarily included bullet casings and cell phone data which showed texts and calls between the people involved — as well as more than 7,000 deleted text messages, according to court testimony.
Retired LPD Detective William Brislin testified he did not follow up on evidence such as gunshot residue from suspects’ clothing, DNA, or further cell phone testing because they got eventual confessions and statements from all the suspects that aligned.
Defense: ‘Documented liars’ testified for the state
Of the five suspects in this case, only Smith and Sturgis went to trial. Christopher “Mason” Allen, 25, and Ricky Auxier, 24, were both involved in the case but they pleaded guilty. A fifth suspect died of a self-inflicted gunshot wound.
Allen and Auxier both testified at trial to aid prosecutors’ case, which was a condition of the plea deals extended to both of them. Allen faces a 30-year sentence for murder and Auxier faces 15 years for robbery.
Smith’s attorney, Daniel Whitley, and Sturgis’ attorney, J. Parker Mincy, said this testimony couldn’t be trusted. Mincy said Auxier and Allen lied to cops collectively five times — and were caught trying to orchestrate their stories while one suspect was on a bathroom break during an interrogation at LPD’s headquarters.
“Think of the sheer absurdity of this — to have someone who by all accounts was involved in the crimes, being interviewed in a police station, by a homicide detective, go to the bathroom and pull out there phone and get their stories straight,” Mincy said. “Does anyone think that is evidence you use to convict someone of murder?”
Whitley urged the jurors to stand up to the justice system they are taught to trust.
“The government believes they proved, beyond a reasonable doubt, that they have proved their case with documented liars,” Whitley said.
Whitley said prosecutors’ evidence was “shaky” and “unreliable.” He said they failed to properly educate the jury, and put the burden of proof on defense attorneys to prove the facts of the case.
Referring to the deleted text messages, Whitley said police didn’t make an attempt to recover those messages because they didn’t fit prosecutors’ theory on the case.
Prosecutor: Evidence shows guilt in this case
Baird was the final attorney to share closing statements with jurors, saying she wasn’t going to address the theatrics and finger-pointing from defense attorneys.
She admitted Allen and Auxier were liars, but also said the defendants can be presumed innocent, but not truthful. She said everyone in the case had lied, but the evidence was what brought the truth to light.
The text messages and ballistics forensics clearly point to Smith and Sturgis being involved in planning the robbery and being there the night of, she said.
“They absolutely lied,” she said of Allen and Auxier. “ .. .But the defendants are documented liars, too. Everybody is lying.”
Baird reinforced the assertion that this was a planned robbery, and all five suspects were culpable.
“All of them had a gun. All of them were there. And all of them were part of the plan,” Baird said. “There was no proof this was an accident. There is no proof of self defense. There is no proof other than it was intentional to commit a robbery.”
Jurors started deliberating around noon Tuesday.
