In lengthy testimony, Leticia Starks ultimately declined to implicate her brother in a burglary days before he was accused of shooting a neighbor dead in a Gary apartment complex.
Thomas Starks, 22, of Gary, is charged with murder, attempted murder, aggravated battery and burglary in the Aug. 8, 2023, shooting death of Kajah Wilson, 27. The shooting also wounded her fiancé Richard Casson.
The defendant lived upstairs from the couple at the time.
Authorities alleged Thomas and Leticia Starks robbed the couple’s apartment and Wilson confronted Leticia about it days before the shooting.
Leticia’s testimony led the trial into a temporary maze – where she pleaded the Fifth Amendment on cross-examination Wednesday and asked for a lawyer.
At the heart of the problem is that she testified Wednesday that she lied when she signed a plea agreement in May 2024 for her part in the burglary, which implicated her brother, saying she just wanted to avoid prison and get home to her kids.
In court, Deputy Prosecutor Veronica Gonzalez told Judge Natalie Bokota that she was blindsided by this. Leticia admitted in a pre-trial meeting that she was there in the couple’s apartment to rob it.
She was not implicated in the shooting. But afterward, she messaged her brother’s fiancé on Facebook to ask if he was OK, the prosecutor said.
By late Thursday morning, Leticia’s attorney Nick Barnes worked out an immunity deal where she could testify safely that she lied in the past, but could face potential perjury charges if she lied in real time that day.
When defense lawyer Mike Woods resumed cross-examination, he asked if her brother was the man seen on video with her burglarizing the neighbor’s apartment. She only admitted her own involvement.
“None of that is true,” she said, “besides what I did.”
She later claimed the man — masked with a gun — was there before her and she didn’t know who he was.
“I feared for my life,” she told Woods.
Woods noted she appeared to walk around the apartment freely, then asked if it was her child’s father. She responded she didn’t know.
Gary Police were called Aug. 8, 2023, around 11 p.m. to the Willows apartments on the 300 block of Clark Road for a shots-fired call.
Wilson was found shot inside the commons area. Her fiancé told officers they were returning from Buffalo Wild Wings when a gunman ambushed them from above.
Casson said he and Wilson both carried guns inside — an AR pistol and Glock 22, respectively — because they had been having problems with their upstairs neighbors.
Lake County Coroner’s Office Forensic Pathologist Dr. Zhuo Wang determined Wilson had been shot seven times from above. Police determined she fell back down the steps.
Investigators learned the upstairs neighbors — Starks and Leticia Starks — were caught on camera burglarizing the victims’ apartment. Packages had also gone missing, according to the affidavit.
A July 25, 2023, police report noted the victims’ door handle was broken as if the burglars forced their way inside. Items including an iPad, iPhone and Nike gym shoes were missing.
The apartment video appeared to show a man and woman with orange hair rummaging through the unit. The man had a face mask, Nike sweatshirt, and dark pants. He was holding a gun with a purple glove on with his left hand.
The building’s outside camera didn’t pick them up coming inside the building, leaving police to believe they lived there.
mcolias@post-trib.com