Attorneys got their final chance Tuesday to frame the murder of Derek Hartz, 35, of Hobart, as a “senseless killing” or a case in which prosecutors used “homosexuality and transgender identity” to deflect a lack of evidence.
Closing arguments in the trial of Domonic Brothers, 28, of Gary, on murder and felony robbery charges in Hartz’s death wrapped up late in the morning before the case went to jurors for deliberation.
Brothers is charged with Hartz’s murder on June 23, 2023, at Chustak Public Fishing Area at 331 W. 600 North in Portage Township. Porter County Deputy Prosecutor Harry Peterson framed the crime as “a way out of poor living conditions and a senseless killing of Derek Hartz in cold blood.”
Porter Superior Court Judge Jeffrey Clymer oversaw Brothers’ case, while co-defendant Jada Monroe will face a separate trial in October before Porter Superior Court Judge Michael Fish. Both defendants are charged with two counts of murder, a Level 1 felony, and one count of robbery resulting in serious bodily injury, a Level 2 felony.
The two were sharing a room at a house in the 4300 block of 11th Avenue in Gary and made plans on an LGBTQ dating app to meet up with Hartz. Peterson told the jury Brothers had six ever-changing versions of the events on the day Hartz was killed as heard in her interviews with police. He said they ranged from “I wasn’t there” to “I hit him with a brick.”
Peterson described Brothers’ answers during questioning as “distancing, minimizing, talking in circles. Elementary.” He also showed quoted excerpts of Brothers’ words. “I can own up to the robbery. I can own up to that,” Brothers’ words read on a monitor.
It was at this point the victim’s mother put her head down in her hands as a photograph of her son’s half-naked body was shown in a blood-soaked T-shirt. The three benches of the viewing gallery behind the prosecutors were full of observers.
Defense attorney Mark Chargualaf in his closing argument said the state focused on the issues of sex and gender identity to deflect from the lack of proof that his client was guilty. “The state’s own words highlight the distraction in this case,” he said. “Homosexuality and transgender identity.”
He brought a brick as a prop to his closing and stashed it in the lectern before the jury was brought in. Peterson took advantage of it in his closing and when Chargualaf took his turn he pointed out that forensic pathologist John Feczko’s testimony was clear and photos showed that the victim suffered blunt force trauma from a round object.
“I didn’t say this. Dr. Feczko said this,” Chargualaf told the jury, raising the brick. “This is not round. Period.”
He also took exception to DNA swabs taken from the victim, saying there were no wounds to those parts of the body, while the 28 stab and blunt force trauma wounds were not swabbed. “They can only test what’s presented to them,” Chargualaf said of crime lab technicians.
He returned to his client’s answers during police interrogation. “You also heard my client adamantly say, ‘I did not kill that man.’” He also reminded the jury that the second questioning Brothers underwent was over three hours long and told the jury she was yelled at and screamed at by police because they didn’t like her answers.
In a final opportunity to address the jury, Chief Deputy Prosecutor Armando Salinas defended the police.
“I’m sorry ladies and gentlemen,” he began. “Maybe the state needs to be reminded this is a murder investigation. He’s stabbed. He’s beaten over the head. Blunt force trauma. I’m sorry if the Porter County Sheriff’s Department took that seriously.”
Salinas, too, addressed the issue of the shape of the brick. “So that takes away the fact that the defendant admits to striking Derek Hartz?” he asked. “The defendant’s admission that she struck Derek Hartz is accurate, ladies and gentlemen. The lab puts the defendant at the scene of the crime.”
The victim’s mother quietly cried in the front row as the jury was given instructions by the judge.
Shelley Jones is a freelance reporter for the Post-Tribune.
