Baines' defense seeks to disallow witness in murder case
Apr. 23—Defense attorneys for Arnett B. Baines, the Owensboro man charged with three counts of murder in the 2019 shooting deaths of three people on Audubon Avenue, argued Thursday the woman who survived the shooting be prohibited from identifying Baines as the shooter at trial.
Baines, 33, of the 0-100 block of Dixiana Court, and Cylar L. Shemwell, 34, of the 1600 block of Wisteria Gardens were charged with murder, first-degree assault and other charges in the deaths of Robert D. Smith, 35, Jay Michael Sowders, 43, and Christopher Carie, 18.
All died of gunshot wounds to the head the morning of Jan. 17, 2019, in the basement of Sowders' home in the 900 block of Audubon Avenue. Surveillance cameras at the home captured video of the shootings.
Carmen Vanegas was in the home in another room and was also shot in the head, but survived. Commonwealth's Attorney Bruce Kuegel previously said he would seek the death penalty against Baines.
The defense is seeking a hearing for Judge Jay Wethington to determine whether Vanegas' identification of Baines is admissible at trial.
The defense motion says Vanegas was interviewed in the hospital on Jan. 21 by detectives from the Owensboro Police Department, where the detectives showed her a photographic lineup.
The motion is based transcripts of the interview detectives conducted with Vanegas. The motion says detectives Eric Flory and Todd Wilkerson asked if Vanegas knew what happened to her, and she responded, "not really."
The motion says Wilkerson said two people had been arrested and that officers "know who is responsible for the crime."
The motion said when asked how many people were involved in the shooting, Vanegas said there were two, and said one of them was "Kaylor" and the other was a "big fat dude," who had a girlfriend named, "Cora." But Vanegas could not give a physical description.
The motion says when Vanegas couldn't remember the suspect's name, Wilkerson told her Baines' nickname and that his first name is Arnett.
The motion says it is undisputed that Vanegas had "met or at least seen" Baines before the day of the shooting.
Detectives showed her six photographs, which included a photo of Baines. The motion says Vanegas initially didn't make an identification.
When Vanegas was shown the photos a second time, she said, "I don't know, maybe" while looking at a photo of a person who was not Baines, but then identified Baines while looking at his photo for the second time.
The motion says Vanegas was "clearly under serious medical care and being treated with pain medication at the time of the interview" and says Wilkerson began "feeding her information" when Vanegas said she didn't really remember what happened, including how many people were arrested, along with Baines' nick-name and first name.
"Informing the witness that you have arrested the person responsible for the crime then telling the witness the person's name that you have arrested could not be more suggestive," defense attorney Sara Zeurcher writes in her motion. "Detective Wilkerson told Ms. Vanegas who she was looking for in that lineup."
Zeurcher says Vanegas told officers she was hiding in her room when the shooter entered. From the surveillance footage, the shooter was in the bedroom for about nine seconds, Zeurcher says, and says Vanegas only had a few seconds to see the shooter.
Vanegas "experienced severe trauma during these events, and that her recollection has not been accurate," Zeurcher says in the motion.
Wethington scheduled a May 14 hearing for witnesses, including the detectives to testify regarding the defense motion.
James Mayse, 270-691-7303, jmayse@messenger-inquirer.com, Twitter: @JamesMayse
James Mayse, 270-691-7303, jmayse@messenger-inquirer.com, Twitter: @JamesMayse
