Jury to take up killing of girl, her mother

Defense attorney Bob Krapenc told jurors Monday that there’s no question that Kristopher Garrett killed his ex-girlfriend.

In his closing argument in Garrett’s capital murder trial in Franklin County Common Pleas Court, Krapenc told the jurors that as they deliberate Garrett’s fate, they should set aside the option of a not-guilty verdict.

The focus of Garrett’s attack on Jan. 5, 2018, was always 34-yearold Nicole Duckson, Krapenc said. But he also argued that Garrett never purposefully directed his attack toward his 4-year-old daughter, Kristina, which is why Krapenc pleaded with the jury to find his client not Garrett guilty of aggravated murder in her death.

“We will agree he caused her death . ... We will not agree he killed her purposefully,” Krapenc said.

Garrett, 26, faces three counts of aggravated murder and one count of tampering with evidence in the killing of the two outside the Ducksons’ East Side home. Death penalty specifications for killing two or more people, killing a child under the age of 13, and killing for the purpose of avoiding punishment were included in the aggravated murder charges. If convicted, Garrett could face a death sentence.

Franklin County Assistant Prosecutor Kara Keating said in her closing argument that Garrett “went for the most-extreme option” when he decided to kill his ex-girlfriend and their daughter after receiving an email before the slayings that he could face jail time for not making his child support payments.

In the five-day trial, prosecutors presented jurors with four hours of Garrett’s initial interview with police and a confession he made several days after the slayings, plus autopsy and crime scene photos. Coroner reports showed that Nicole was stabbed 49 times and that Kristina had severe wounds to her face, mouth and tongue. Both had defensive wounds on their hands.

“He knew the wrongfulness of his actions, but he didn’t care,” Keating said.

The defense called its sole witness — Columbusbased psychologist James Reardon — to testify that Garrett was insane as defined by law when he turned his attack to Kristina.

Reardon told jurors that Garrett was diagnosed with several “serious mental diseases” that impaired his mind and caused him to enter into a dissociated state after he killed Nicole. Reardon likened Garrett’s state of mind to that of soldiers and athletes who go “in the zone” and are unable to recall their actions.

Garrett pleaded not guilty by reason of insanity to the two counts of aggravated murder related to Kristina’s death; he pleaded not guilty to the other two charges.

Prosecutors brought in Daniel Martell, a forensic psychologist from California, for their rebuttal Monday. Martell, who did not administer psychological tests to Garrett but did review all the investigative material and Reardon’s report, said he found inconsistencies in the findings that point to Garrett being sane when he killed the two.

In closing, Krapenc asked the jury to follow the evidence to where it leads, and “it will lead you to justice.”

The jury is to reconvene Tuesday for deliberations.