The Morning Journal (Lorain, OH)
OPENING STATEMENTS BEGIN IN MURDER TRIAL
Elyria woman accused of killing live-in boyfriend in 2014
The relationship between Nicole Villegas and Lamar Capers was born in crime and ended in crime, according to Lorain County Assistant Prosecutor Chris Pierre.
The remark came during the state’s opening statement in Villegas’ murder trial which began April 26 before Lorain County Common Pleas Judge Mark A. Betleski.
Villegas, 34, of Elyria, is facing two counts of murder and two counts of felonious assault in connection to the Nov. 24, 2014, shooting death of her livein boyfriend, Capers, who was 32.
Pierre said Villegas was a heroin addict and Capers was a heroin dealer, and it was their mutual attachment to the deadly opiate that was the root of their relationship.
“Being in relationship with a drug dealer is a good way to ensure that you have ready access to your next score,” he said.
According to Pierre, Villegas’ knowledge of the drug trade and some dealers habits of trading illicit substances for sexual favors made her suspicious of Capers; believing he was cheating on her with his clientele.
He said Villegas became pregnant with Capers’ child and they moved into
“Despite everything, Nicole loved Lamar. He was the father of her newborn child and all she wanted was to be a family.”
— Nicole Villegas’ attorney, Jenifer Berk
a duplex in the 600 block of Lowell Street in Elyria.
A 13-year-old child of Villegas was living with a family member because of Villegas’ drug issues, Pierre said.
The child Villegas gave birth to two weeks before the murder occurred was born addicted to opiates, despite that Villegas had been prescribed a drug to deal with her addiction, and was being held at the hospital.
Pierre said Capers still was selling drugs to pay for the child and because of this was out and about in the city making sales, making and taking phone calls and not spending time at the hospital with Villegas and the child.
According to Pierre, Villegas was mad Capers wasn’t at the hospital and believed he was cheating. He cited multiple text communications between the two to show Villegas expressed her extreme displeasure with Capers.
Pierre claimed Villegas would be mean to Capers when she did not get what she wanted and would be kind and sweet when she did get what she wanted.
“On Sunday Nov. 23, 2014,
what the defendant wanted was alcohol,” he said.
On that day, Villegas had visited with her hospitalbound child and was dropped back off at the Lowell Street home by her mother, Pierre said.
From there, Villegas and Capers went to a bar where Villegas consumed a beer and several shots of tequila before they left, he said.
During the drive back to the Lowell Street home after midnight, Villegas became angry believing Capers was deleting text messages so she wouldn’t read them and they began to fight, Pierre said.
Villegas insisted Capers stop the car so she could walk home, he said.
During the walk, Villegas had a change of heart and attempted to call Capers to pick her up, but received no answer, Pierre said.
An off-duty Elyria police officer noticed Villegas walking and picked her up and gave her a ride home, he said.
After the officer left, Villegas entered the home and confronted Capers, who was lying in bed in his boxer shorts, for not picking her up, Pierre said.
The two argued until Capers decided to sleep on the couch. Villegas then took a lockbox belonging to Capers
containing drugs and money and threw it in the trash, Pierre said.
This caused a physical fight between the two that culminated with Capers attempting to leave the home. Villegas followed him out and attempted to stop him from leaving.
As Capers was placing the lockbox at the driver’s door of the Mercury Sable he drove, Villegas entered the rear passenger door of the car and retrieved a .357 Taurus magnum revolver from a bag she had placed in the backseat earlier in the evening and pointed it at Capers’ face, Pierre said.
After a brief verbal confrontation in which Villegas asked Capers how it felt to have a gun pointed at his face, the gun went off striking Capers in the lower left cheek, he said.
Villegas’ attorney, Jenifer Berki also presented a narrative of the night in question, but said despite the fact Capers beat her, cheated on her and sold drugs, Villegas loved him and did not intend to kill him.
According to Berki, when Villegas became pregnant with Capers’ child, the two decided to clean up their lives.
Villegas was to stop using heroin and Capers was to stop selling it, Berki said.
Capers did not stop selling heroin, and according to Berki, this caused the fight between the two on their way home from the bar as Capers was attempting to make a sale on the drive.
Berki said Capers was mad when Villegas returned home after leaving the car because she had been driven there by a police officer and began beating her up.
After Capers calmed down and started to eat a plate of Hamburger Helper, Villegas again began cajoling him for selling drugs causing him to grab the lockbox with drugs and money and attempt to leave.
According to Berki, Villegas pulled the gun on Capers in order for him to feel as trapped as she did in the relationship.
It was when Capers reached for the gun and made contact with her hand it went off, purely on accident, she said.
“Nicole maintained from the beginning that this was an accident, ”Berki said. “Despite everything, Nicole loved Lamar. He was the father of her newborn child and all she wanted was to be a family.”
The trial was to resume April 27.