A girl testified Tuesday she heard a “gunshot,” then later saw her mom “asleep.”
Samuel Edwards, 38, is on trial for the Dec. 27, 2022 shooting death of Ieisha Jefferson. He has pleaded not guilty.
Court records allege Edwards put their five children into the nearest bedroom, gave them a cell phone, then shot Jefferson once, leaving her on the living room floor.
The child heard the “door shut,” then a “gunshot,” she told defense lawyer Michael Lambert on cross-examination. He asked the girl how she knew what the sound was.
“My brother told me,” the girl said, holding a stuffed unicorn on the stand.
Edwards was not there when they opened the door, she testified, aged 5 at the shooting.
“I thought my mom was asleep,” the child told jurors.
Did anyone tell you what to say, Lambert asked. Or, ask her what to say?
“No,” she responded.
Judge Natalie Bokota said a prosecutor would walk her out.
“You look very pretty today,” she told the child.
“Thank you,” the girl said.
Edwards is charged with murder, five counts of neglect of a dependent, and one count of misdemeanor domestic battery.
Authorities allege he called 911 afterward, claiming he wasn’t there, but heard shots. In testimony Tuesday, the children’s maternal aunt identified Edwards as the man on the 911 call.
Detective William Poe of the Lake County Metro Homicide Unit wrote that Gary Police responded early on Dec. 27, 2022 to the 3800 block of Adams Street where they found a woman fatally shot in the head lying against a sofa, an affidavit states.
Jefferson had her right arm over her face, as if trying to defend herself. Three live, .38-caliber bullets were found nearby.
Detectives subpoenaed the cell phone of the 911 caller, which pinged at the Adams Street address at the time of the shooting. Jefferson’s friends and family shunned Edwards for how he treated her, court records allege.
Poe testified Tuesday a 911 call was in his call logs that day.
Lambert motioned for a mistrial early Tuesday, saying Gary Police Sgt. Silas Simpson should not have been able to testify Monday about what the child told him – saying it breached hearsay rules and a motion in limine.
Bokota disagreed, saying it was covered by legal exceptions to hearsay. Lambert asked to preserve the issue for a potential appeal.
Deputy Prosecutors Lindsey Lanham and Arturo Balcazar are assigned.
