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No bail for former cop accused in Portage slaying
Post-Tribune (IN)
July 20, 2016
There will be no bail set for a former Hammond police officer accused of murdering the mother of his three children Nov. 8 in Portage.
On Monday, Porter Superior Judge Roger Bradford denied the bond request for Kevin Alexander Campbell, 32, of the 6100 block of Wisconsin Street in Hobart, despite this being the first case in Porter County to address bond for murder under 2013 Indiana Supreme Court decisions.
Bradford said that until minutes before the hearing began, he hadn't known that 2013 court decisions changed legislation that denies bail bonds for murder suspects and now puts the burden of proof in bond hearings on the prosecution.
However, in keeping with the new provisions, "I'm not going so far as saying the proof is evident, but it seems the presumption is strong," he said.
Lisa Mays, the mother of the deceased Tiara Thomas, said "thank God" and began crying loudly when Bradford announced his decision.
She was comforted for the rest of the hearing by family members who also supported her on the way out of court.
Defense attorney Susan Severtson had argued the prosecution had no solid forensic evidence, such as fingerprints, blood or DNA, that Campbell was at the scene of the murder, Thomas' apartment on Old Porter Road. Evidence presented Monday was "based on hearsay," Severtson said.
Portage Detective Lt. Dennis Meyers testified that Campbell had the three kids on a school night, which was a rarity, and that Campbell had turned the GPS off on his cellphone early in the morning, long before Thomas was found by her fiance about 7 a.m.
Meyers also testified that Campbell was in financial trouble and paid $1,495 a month in child support and that police drove one of the children around Lake Station to identify a park that Campbell allegedly stopped at while driving them to school.
The child said it was to throw away a brown bag that included shoes, Meyers said.
Severtson objected to the police working with the child without parental permission, but Bradford allowed it because, as Porter County Chief Deputy Prosecutor Matt Frost said, the child wasn't a suspect.
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