Julian Wright, charged with aggravated burglary and domestic violence, took the witness stand in his own defense Tuesday in Allen County Common Pleas Court. Jurors will begin deliberations in the case on Wednesday.
J Swygart | The Lima News
LIMA — An Allen County jury will begin deliberations Wednesday morning in the case of a Lima man charged with aggravated burglary and domestic violence for allegedly breaking into a home and threatening the mother of his infant daughter.
Testimony concluded Tuesday in the trial of Julian Wright, who prosecutors say forcibly entered the home of a woman with whom he shares a daughter in January of 2022 and threatened her with physical harm after breaking her door and attempting to gain entry.
Assistant Allen County Prosecutor Josh Carp told jurors that Wright went to the Woodlawn Avenue home of Kaitlin Russell in the early-morning hours of Jan. 22, 2022, and used a brick to break her front door before attempting to open the door. Carp said the defendant also made threatening statements to the woman.
Wright, the final witness of the trial, disputed earlier testimony from the alleged victim that he threatened to strike her with a brick if she didn’t end a 911 call on the night in question.
He testified that he had spent the previous evening with Russell — who he described as a “friend with benefits” — and that she was aware that he planned to return to her house on the night of Jan. 21, 2022, after doing some work for his mother.
Russell told jurors on Monday that she was awakened in her upstairs bedroom by a loud noise coming from the front door. She testified that Wright, who was homeless during that time, had exchanged a series of text messages on the night of Jan. 21 and into the early morning hours of Jan. 22 during which he asked if he could come to her home again to spend the night.
Russell told jurors she lied to Wright when she texted him saying she had some friends coming over. On the witness stand the woman said she lied because she knew Wright had purchased alcohol earlier in the evening and that she didn’t want him around her daughter while intoxicated.
She said that at approximately 2:40 a.m. on the night in question she called 911 after hearing a “loud banging on the front door.” She told jurors that when she ran downstairs and looked through the curtains she saw Wright holding a brick and then saw him reach his arm through a hole in the door in an attempt to unlock a dead bolt. She said he made verbal threats to her.
Wright denied that accusation. In a text to Russell around 2 a.m. Wright said he told the woman that he was “on his way” to her home. He told jurors his intent was to retrieve his overnight bag.
“Did you have a brick in your hand when Miss Russell came to the door?” defense attorney Chima Ekeh asked Wright.
“No,” he answered.
“Did you tell her you were going to strike her with a brick?”
“That did not happen,” Wright said.
