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Post Tribune
January 24, 2018
http://www.chicagotribune.com/suburbs/post-tribune/crime/ct-ptb-campbell-trial-defense-starts-st-0125-20180124-story.html
The wife of a former Hammond police officer accused in the shooting death of his ex-girlfriend, during court testimony Wednesday, disputed prosecutors' claims that he was facing dire financial straits at the time of the killing.
Alicia Campbell testifed before a Porter County jury on behalf of her husband, Kevin Campbell, who's charged with murder stemming from the Nov. 18, 2015 death of Tiara Thomas, the mother of his three children.
At the time of Campbell's arrest, police said the slaying may have been financially motivated. Alicia Campbell, however, downplayed the notion that he was experiencing money woes.
"It wasn't as bad as everyone in the paper is making it seem," Alicia Campbell said.
The defense began presenting its case Wednesday at the Porter County courthouse in Valparaiso in the third week of Kevin Campbell's murder trial. Campbell, 33, has pleaded not guilty in the case.
Police found the 30-year-old Thomas had been shot in the apartment she shared with her fiance in the Park Place apartment complex. When Kevin Campbell was arrested, Portage police said there may have been a financial motive, as he had received voice mails from creditors and his bank account balance was $7.58, according to court records.
Kevin Campbell also paid monthly child support payments to Thomas for the three children they had together. Alicia Campbell, 24, said that didn't concern her because she was employed and her husband worked side jobs in addition to his duties as a police officer.
"It didn't affect my life," Alicia Campbell said.
While Alicia Campbell said their car had been repossessed, she said she wasn't aware of any bill collectors or debts as she was not in charge of paying their bills.
Alicia Campbell previously refused speaking with prosecutors in the case, Matthew Frost, prosecuting attorney, said, citing marital privilege.
Kevin and Alicia Campbell met in 2013 while he was working for Gary police and she worked at a Denny's restaurant in Gary, she said. She became pregnant the next year and they later married, she testified.
The day Thomas died, Alicia Campbell said, her husband called and was so upset that he was unable to drive. She said she she drove him to the Methodist Hospitals Northlake Campus in Gary where Thomas was taken.
"He was crying," she said. "He could barely talk."
After that, she testified, investigators spoke with Thomas and went to her family members' homes multiple times, and while she cooperated, it was sometimes an "inconvenience," she said.
"So you don't have anything to do with anything?" Frost asked.
"Um, no, I don't believe I had to do with anything," Alicia Campbell said.
Kent Campbell, Kevin Campbell's father, testified he went with his wife to the hospital in Gary where Thomas was taken after she was shot.
"We loved Tiara as a daughter," he said.
Kent Campbell said he later drove his son to the Portage Police Department for questioning and turned over his son's cell phone — which he had been charging for him — to police.
Kevin Campbell "was a good kid" and "easy to raise," helping his father with different jobs as he grew up, Kent Campbell said.
"He was a great father," Kent Campbell said.
Eric Knowles, who knew Kevin Campbell while the two were in the Porter County Jail, said Kevin Campbell "was very reserved" but said he "worried about his kids."
"The only thing he ever did was maintain his innocence," Knowles said.
Earlier, Nikki Meanovich, who lived next door to Kevin Campbell and Thomas on Wisconsin Street in Hobart, took the stand as the state's final witness. She and Kevin Campbell teared up in the courtroom as she described how their children spent time together.
Meanovich said she was friendly with Kevin Campbell, and he helped her with a pesky possum in the neighborhood. Meanovich had a close bond with Thomas who "was family to me," she said.
"My daughter always used to call her second mom," Meanovich said.
Meanovich told the jury that when Kevin Campbell told Thomas and their children to move out of their Hobart house a few years ago, "He said that she could not come back."
Meanovich said she helped Thomas move her belongings out and remembered Kevin Campbell saying Thomas couldn't take a handgun he had bought Thomas for her birthday.
The trial continues Thursday, and Kevin Campbell is expected to take the stand, his attorney said.
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