The Morning Journal (Lorain, OH)
18 YEARS TO LIFE
Elyria woman sentenced for boyfriend’s murder
Nicole Villegas was sentenced June 26 to 18 years to life in prison for the murder of Lamar Capers.
Villegas, 34, of Elyria, was found guilty May 17 of murder and two counts of felonious assault for the Nov. 24, 2014, shooting death of then 32-yearold Capers.
She was found not guilty of a charge of purposeful murder, but was also found guilty of a lesser-included offense of reckless homicide.
Before the sentence was handed down, Villegas’ attorney, Jenifer Berki, maintained that the shooting was
“I don’t have a father now, and no one to guide me. She deserves to suffer like I do.”
— Amaree Capers, the victim’s 10-year-old daughter
accidental. She said Villegas had “a lot of stressors” in her life at the time of the shooting, but that she is a different person now.
“We would ask for leniency,” Berki said.
Speaking on her own behalf, Villegas apologized to Capers’ family who filled half the courtroom.
“The night that Lamar died, a piece of me died with him,” she said. “I know that you all hate me and want me to spend the rest of my life in prison, which I don’t expect anything less from any of you. I pray that one day when your anger does subside, that you will accept the fact that this was an accident, and I do love Lamar very much.”
She said she would have to live with the incident for the rest of her life and that it breaks her heart that she will have to tell the daughter she and Capers share what happened to him.
“Even with accidents, there are consequences and it’s time for me to face my consequences,” she continued.
Sophia Villegas, the elder Villegas’ daughter, spoke on her mother’s behalf saying that despite her mother’s issues she raised her well and she cares about her.
“I know that she’s innocent, and she loves him more than anything and I am so sorry to his family for what has happened because I couldn’t imagine what you guys are going through,” she said.
Lamar Capers’ mother, Rosemary Capers, also spoke before the sentencing, saying that she hoped Villegas spent the rest of her life in jail for killing her son, and that his children have not taken the loss well.
“The Bible says be quick to forgive; I’m not on that
right now,” she said. “We let her into our homes.”
Rosemary Capers expressed her desire for Villegas to be treated badly in prison, and for Villegas to miss her daughters the same way she misses her son.
“Lamar shouldn’t be a memory,” she said. “I had him for 32 years and he was with you for less than a year. May you burn in hell, Nicole.”
The victim’s 10-year-old daughter, Amaree Capers, also spoke before the sentence was handed down.
“I don’t have a father now, and no one to guide me,” she said flanked by two of the Lorain County Prosecutor’s Office’s victim advocates. “She deserves to suffer like I do.”
Capers was shot once in the face with a .357 magnum Taurus brand revolver while attempting to leave the Lowell Street home the two shared.
Villegas’ defense never argued whether the gun was in her hand when it went off, but claimed the shooting was an accident.
She was holding the cocked gun pointed at Capers’ face and claimed in trial that it went off when he attempted to strike it out of her hands. The two had argued about Capers’ continued drug trafficking, infidelity and the state of their newborn child, who was born addicted to opioids, throughout the night leading up to the shooting, according to prosecutors.
After the sentence was handed down, Berki requested Lorain County Common Pleas Court Judge Mark A. Betleski grant Villegas bond while awaiting her appeal of the verdict.
Lorain County Assistant Prosecutor Chris Pierre opposed the bond.
“Lamar Capers’ family and friends began serving their life sentence back in 2014 and they’ve waited a long time for this day, when the defendant would face the consequences of her actions,” he said. “We ask that that day not be put off any longer.”
Betleski denied the request.