Assistant Prosecutor Joe Everhart re-enacts how Ja’Kia Battle allegedly shot herself based on the stories of Kiara Totty and her attorney.
Charlotte Caldwell | The Lima News
LIMA — A jury found a Lima woman guilty of reckless homicide, a third-degree felony, and a firearm specification Friday in the Allen County Common Pleas Court after 23-year-old Ja’Kia Battle died of a gunshot wound at the woman’s home in 2021.
Sentencing for Kiara Totty, 35, has been set for Nov. 7 at 1 p.m.
During the final day of the trial, jurors heard testimony from Dr. Jeffrey Hudson, a forensic pathologist and deputy coroner at the Lucas County Coroner’s Office who performed the autopsy on Battle.
Hudson said the bullet entered Battle’s body in her upper left chest area and was found in her body during the autopsy in her back on her right side, showing a downward trajectory. He said “The trajectory was unusual for someone who has shot themselves” and in his experience, he has not seen a trajectory like that in the suicide autopsies he’s handled.
His report read there was “no evidence of close-range fire on the skin surrounding the entrance wound” because there was no soot or stippling on Battle’s body or clothing, so his determination of the range of fire was “distant/indeterminate.”
During cross-examination, Totty’s attorney, Darren Meade, said the unusual angle the gun was fired could have been because Battle lost her grip on the gun.
In closing arguments, both Assistant Prosecutor Joshua Carp and Joe Everhart claimed Totty wiped the gun off with the towel that was found on the couch and placed it in Battle’s hand before first responders arrived. They said Battle knew what kind of mental state Totty was in at the time and wouldn’t have brought a gun to her house. Carp said consciousness of guilt could be proven because Totty refused a gunshot residue test during her interview with detectives.
Everhart mentioned how Totty’s story changed from when she was held in a police cruiser to her interview at the sheriff’s office and replayed the videos showing her telling her story. For example, in the cruiser, Totty said she was grabbing a knife from the kitchen when the shooting happened, and in the interview room, she said she was getting in the fridge. Everhart said the story Totty told of Battle playing with the gun and pointing it at herself is true, just the roles were reversed and Totty was doing those things.
Meade said the “investigation was riddled with major problems” and pointed to problems like no proof of who handled the physical evidence after it was recovered and no gunshot residue test performed on Battle.
Throughout the trial, among other things, jurors saw physical evidence — like the gun, bullets and Battle’s sweatshirt — and evidence taken from cellphones — like photos and a video of Totty posing with a gun months before the incident that appears to be the same gun that killed Battle. Totty also had a framed photo on her wall of her posing with what appeared to be the same gun.
In the interview with detectives, Totty said she’s never owned a gun and Battle brought the gun to her residence. DNA and fingerprint testing from the gun resulted in no conclusions because no sufficient samples could be collected.
Totty did not take the witness stand during the trial, and no defense witnesses were called.
Totty and Battle were in an ongoing casual romance for about a year before the incident occurred.
This is the second time this case has been presented to a jury. A mistrial was declared in October 2023 because jurors couldn’t reach a unanimous verdict with a 10-2 split.
Reach Charlotte Caldwell at 567-242-0451.
