Stasy Joiner claimed in court Thursday she felt compelled to sign a voluntary manslaughter plea deal or her lawyer Roy Dominguez would withdraw from the case.
Dominguez said that wasn’t true. Joiner raised no objections when he last talked to her on Monday, he said.
It was “very unfortunate” and “disheartening,” he said.
Judge Salvador Vasquez told her it wasn’t a legally justified reason to get out of her plea. That’s determined by law, he said.
How do I do that, Joiner responded.
Your request will be denied, Vasquez said.
Under Indiana law, after a plea deal is formally submitted to a judge in a prior hearing, a defendant can’t just say aloud later in court they’ve changed their mind.
Joiner, 45, admitted in court on Feb. 7 to voluntary manslaughter with a gun enhancement, records show. During that hearing, she swore under oath “knowingly” and “voluntarily” she took the deal, Vasquez said Thursday.
The agreed plea called for 35 years. It had 30 years on voluntary manslaughter, with another five for a gun enhancement for the Oct. 18, 2023 death of Jack Davis, 64, of Lake Station. He was shot once in the back of the head. His death was ruled a homicide.
“We discussed it,” Dominguez told the judge.
A self-defense claim would likely fail at trial, he said.
“It’s all come down to my fault,” he said. “She did tell police she did shoot him. She was the one who ultimately signed it.”
Deputy Prosecutor Tara Villarreal said Joiner went to Davis’ house and an argument broke out. She was blaming everyone else, except herself. He was eating some sort of cookie or brownie when Joiner shot him. He wasn’t here to give his side of the story, she said.
Police believed Joiner planted a butcher knife near Davis’ body after she shot him in the head, the prosecutor said. DNA results were not conclusive and it was a hole in the case that would be risky at trial.
Earlier in the hearing, Cherish DeLeon, Davis’ daughter, told the court they would understand her “crushing” and “unexpected loss.” It was unnerving to share her grief with strangers.
Joiner’s actions were “pathetic” and “profoundly stupid.”
Davis wasn’t a “perfect man or father,” but becoming a parent herself gave her a “new understanding.” Her youngest child, 3, would be too young to remember him.
She had to console a relative, saying it would have happened so fast, her father “didn’t have time to be afraid.”
Lake Station Police were called Oct. 18, 2023 to the 2400 block of Shelby Street for a reported shooting. Joiner was on the phone in the front yard. She waved an officer down.
Was she hurt, the officer asked.
“No,” she responded. “I shot him.”
Davis was found lying on his back in the kitchen. Another officer found a silver gun on the floor by the kitchen’s entrance. He was found in drag — wearing a black dress, nylon stockings, a black jacket, with eye shadow and fake eyelashes. A blonde wig was by his foot. A butcher knife was by his left chest.
Authorities — a fire chief and assistant fire chief — noted Davis showed signs he had been dead for at least two hours when they first arrived. His hands were blue and he showed earlier signs of rigor mortis, the affidavit states. Police also learned Davis’ cash and credit cards were missing from his wallet.
