The Morning Journal (Lorain, OH)
Elyria woman accused of murder takes the stand
As she took the stand May 5, Nicole Villegas, 34, of Elyria, told jurors she was testifying to set the record straight.
Villegas stayed on the witness stand all day testifying in her own defense in connection to the Nov. 24, 2014, shooting death of her livein boyfriend and father of her child Lamar Capers, 32.
Her testimony came on the second day of her defense in the case. She is charged with two counts of murder and two counts of felonious assault after prosecutors say she shot Capers in the face during a dispute.
Under questioning from defense attorney
Jenifer Berki, Villegas described a turbulent yearlong relationship between herself and Capers, but emphasized the love they shared.
She testified she met Capers through a mutual friend Britt Noble, who testified earlier in the trial on behalf of the state.
Villegas said she had only dabbled in heroin when she met Capers and knew she was taking a chance by even trying the drug.
She said she realized she had become addicted to the drug when she began using it every day. At the time she and Capers were staying in hotel rooms together and she had quit her job as a waitress.
According to Villegas, Capers cheated on her with drug addicts and was physically and verbally abusive to her, but she stayed with him anyway because she believed he could change.
“I seen things in Lamar that a lot of people didn’t,” she said tearfully. “He had a lot of potential to do good. He’s been living this lifestyle that he lived for a very long time and I never gave up on Lamar. I just wanted us to be happy.”
Villegas testified she decided to get clean when she found out she was two months pregnant with Capers’ child. She said the two had planned to get out of the drug life and have a family, but Capers seemed not to be doing his part. She said he continued trafficking drugs, beating her and cheating on her.
“Lamar had a way of doing things,” she said. “Whatever he said went. I may have argued with him about situations. I may have wanted my way. Lamar didn’t know how to stop these things.”
Villegas gave birth to their child Nov. 10, 2014, and due to her drug use early in the pregnancy and subsequent prescription to subutex, the baby was born addicted to opiates. For this reason, the baby was kept at the hospital to be weaned off the drug, she testified.
According to Villegas, she visited the child every day and tried to get Capers to visit as well, but he often did not respond to her text messages and only visited the child once for an hour with his mother in tow.
It was her aggravation with his unwillingness to visit their child that caused her to send him expletive-laden berating and threatening text messages, which Lorain County Assistant Prosecutor Chris Pierre introduced into evidence earlier in the trial.
She claimed many of the texts were meant to get Capers’ attention.
“I did not mean certain text messages I was sending him about killing him,” Villegas explained. “It was not intended to purposely take his life. This is unfortunately how Lamar and I would talk to each other.”
On the night of the shooting, the two made plans to go to an Elyria bar to have drinks for Villegas’ birthday. Earlier in the day Capers told Villegas to put a .357 magnum Taurus revolver, which he kept for protection, into a blue bag and place it into the back of their black Mercury Sable, Villegas testified.
She said the two discussed the changes they wanted to make for their child while drinking at the bar and seemed to be getting along. When they got into the car, she noticed he was texting someone and asked to see his phone.
According to Villegas, this caused Capers to get angry and physically assault her. She told Capers to let her out of the Sable and he did so.
When she returned to their Lowell Street home, having received a ride from an off-duty Elyria police officer, Villegas said she and Capers began fighting again culminating in her telling him he could not sleep in their bed.
The fight became physical when Villegas dumped
a lock box where Capers kept his drugs and money into the trash. Capers told Villegas he was leaving the home and gathered his drugs and money from the trash, Villegas testified.
Villegas testified she followed Capers down the stairs from their apartment in order to retrieve the breast pump, which was in the bag with the gun, and also because she didn’t want him to leave the home because he was both drunk and high on drugs.
While retrieving the pump, Capers asked her to give him the gun from the bag. Villegas testified she didn’t know why he wanted the gun and confronted him about it.
At one point, Villegas said, she pointed the revolver in Caper’s direction and asked him how it felt to have a gun pointed at him. When he didn’t take her seriously, she cocked the hammer on the weapon.
According to Villegas, Capers attempted to get the gun from her and when he struck the weapon, it fired striking him in the face.
In a dramatic moment in her testimony, Villegas left the witness stand and used the unloaded gun to reenact the brief altercation over the weapon. Steve Albenze, another of Villegas’ defense lawyers played the part of Capers.
The testimony was cut short as the Lorain county Common Pleas Court was closing, and Berki indicated to Judge Mark A. Betleski that it would take quite some time to finish her direct questioning.
Due to scheduling conflicts with jurors, the trial is scheduled to resume May 15 in Betleski’s courtroom, with Villegas still on the stand.