Allen County Sheriff’s Det. Nick Burke handles the gun that killed Ja’Kia Battle in 2021 while testifying in the jury trial for Kiara Totty, who is charged with reckless homicide.
Charlotte Caldwell | The Lima News
LIMA — Jurors heard more testimony Thursday from law enforcement and employees of the Ohio Bureau of Criminal Investigation during the second day of a jury trial for a Lima woman accused of reckless homicide.
During Allen County Sheriff’s Det. Nick Burke’s testimony, among other evidence, jurors saw a photo taken by law enforcement during a later search of Kiara Totty’s residence, which pictured a photo collage on Totty’s wall, including a picture of her with what appeared to be the same gun that killed 23-year-old Ja’Kia Battle at the residence in 2021.
During Totty’s attorney Darren Meade’s cross-examination of Burke, he said Totty is a “fledgling” hip-hop artist and could have been trying to “get street cred” by posing with the gun, and it couldn’t be confirmed whether the gun in the picture is the same or if it’s real.
Totty’s approximately one-hour interview shortly after the incident at the sheriff’s office was also played. Totty said in the interview Battle brought two guns to her house, one of which was black, but a black gun was never found. She said she’s never owned a gun. After the shooting when Totty called 911, she said Battle was still alert and saying her chest was numb, but detectives thought this wasn’t true because they said the bullet struck Battle’s heart.
Detectives attempted to get Totty to submit to a gunshot residue test on her hands, which would have confirmed if she fired the gun, but she refused, saying Battle could confirm her story for her.
Burke testified gun records only went back to 1977 for the gun, so the owner couldn’t be confirmed. Meade asked him why a gunshot residue test wasn’t done on Battle, and Burke said they were only interested in trying to save Battle’s life.
The gun, the bullet found in Battle’s body during the autopsy and Battle’s sweatshirt were presented as physical evidence in the courtroom.
BCI forensic scientists Jessica Campbell from the DNA department; Ashley Owen from the latent print department; and Kevin Belcik of the firearms department also testified.
Campbell said there was not sufficient quality of DNA collected on the gun to make a comparison with Battle’s and Totty’s DNA profiles. Owen said no full fingerprints were collected from the gun, so no conclusion could be made. Belcik confirmed the bullet found in Battle’s autopsy came from the gun.
Reach Charlotte Caldwell at 567-242-0451.
