A Summit County jury was unable to reach a verdict Wednesday in the murder case against Kerieda Beavers, who is accused of shooting and killing her boyfriend, Tevael Parker, earlier this year.
The jury will resume its deliberations at 8 a.m. Monday — after the Thanksgiving holiday weekend — in Summit County Common Pleas Judge Scot Stevenson’s courtroom.
The jury deliberated from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. Wednesday after listening to a week of testimony and closing arguments Wednesday morning.
Beavers, 22, of Akron is charged with murder and felonious assault for the Jan. 9 shooting death of Parker, also 22 and from Akron. Prosecutors allege Beavers shot Parker after the two argued while walking home from a corner store to get more beer about 1:15 a.m. The shooting was in the 1000 block of Weehawken Place in the Rosemary Square housing development.
Other than Beavers, no one witnessed the shooting, according to court testimony. She has denied being responsible.
During his closing argument, Summit County Assistant Prosecutor Jon Baumoel said Beavers shooting Parker is the most logical explanation, considering that she was the only one present, the revolver was found underneath Parker, Parker was shot in the chin, and Beavers behaved abnormally after the shooting. Prosecutors think Beavers pointed to other potential suspects and wasn’t helpful to detectives because she was trying to cover up her crime.
“There is no other reasonable explanation,” Baumoel said.
Baumoel said Beavers’ statements and conduct “reek of guilt.”
Beavers’ attorneys, however, blame her demeanor on the fact that her blood-alcohol level was more than three times the legal limit and she was given numerous medications in the hospital after the shooting because of injuries she suffered when she was assaulted by one of Parker’s family members. They also point to a lack of scientific evidence — no DNA, gunshot residue or blood spatter on Beavers, her clothing or the 0.22-revolver used in the shooting.
“If its presence is important, then its absence is just as important,” said Jeff Laybourne, one of Beavers’ two attorneys.
Laybourne and Walter Benson, Beavers’ other attorney, highlighted other possible explanations, including that Parker took his own life or shot himself accidentally or that one of the occupants of a gray Impala seen by several witnesses speeding away may have fired the shot.
“It’s not your job to answer the questions posed here. It’s their job,” Laybourne said, pointing to prosecutors. “If they haven’t done that to your satisfaction, then that’s reasonable doubt.”
Detective Tanisha Stewart, the lead detective on the case, said during her testimony Tuesday that Beavers’ statements to police were “indicative of lying and deception” and that she arrived at Beavers’ guilt based on the “totality of what was there and what was not there.”
Robert White, a gunshot-residue expert hired by the defense, testified Tuesday that, based on his review of the documents in the case, he would have expected Beavers to have gunshot residue on her hands and her clothes if she shot Parker. He said shooting a revolver creates a 5-foot cloud of residue that lands on anyone or anything in the area.
Assistant Prosecutor Angela Poth-Wypasek pressed White during a lengthy cross-examination on whether what happened to Beavers after the shooting could have resulted in gunshot residue being washed off her hands and clothing.
“It would have removed some, probably,” said White, a retired West Virginia police officer and forensic scientist.
Stephanie Warsmith can be reached at 330-996-3705, swarsmith@thebeaconjournal.com and on Twitter: @swarsmithabj .