Heidi Carter's second kidnapping, murder trial sees nine witnesses called in first day

EVANSVILLE — Less than three months after Heidi Kathleen Carter's first trial ended with a mixed verdict, she found herself sitting before jurors again on Monday as prosecutors sought to unequivocally connect her to a 2021 killing, kidnapping and sexual assault.

Carter, 37, first went on trial in Vanderburgh County Circuit Court in November, but jurors only returned a verdict for one out of five counts: carrying a handgun without a license, a misdameanor. The partial mistrial led county prosecutors to refile charges against Carter in December.

Lead prosecutor Stan Levco opened Carter's second trial by telling jurors she directly aided her boyfriend when he killed 50-year-old Timothy Scott Ivy and raped a woman inside Carter's Stinson Avenue residence on Oct. 19, 2021.

"I believe the only question is going to be, 'Did Heidi help him?" Levco told jurors. "We argue she did."

Evansville police shot Carter's boyfriend, Carrey Hammond Oct. 19, 2021, after he emerged from Carter's residence holding what officers thought was a gun. It turned out to be an object twisted into the shape of gun, an Evansville Police Department spokesperson later said.

Carter faces six charges at her second trial: aiding, inducing or causing murder, a Level 1 felony; two counts of aiding, inducing or causing rape, a Level 1 felony, and three counts of aggravated criminal confinement, a Level 3 felony,

Carter's court-appointed defense attorney, Barry Blackard, told jurors Monday his client was "an easy scapegoat."

"The only reason we are here is one person: Carrey Hammond," Blackard said. "Heidi Carter did not murder anybody; she did not rape anybody."

Prosecutors call nine witnesses during trial's first day

Newly elected Vanderburgh County Prosecutor Diana Moers tapped Levco to handle Carter's second trial after she defeated Democrat Jon Schaefer in November. Levco led the county prosecutor's office from 1991 to 2011 and recently began working for Moers on a part-time basis.

Levco called nine witnesses to testify Monday, including eight law enforcement officers, a crime scene investigator, a detective and the surviving female victim.

In response to question from Levco, the surviving victim told jurors she and Ivy met Carter on a dating app for LGBTQ people. What began as a consensual hookup devolved into violence, the woman said, when Hammond discovered them having sex.

More:Amid potential retrial in homicide case, Heidi Carter sentenced on firearms charge

"The next thing I know there's a man bursting through the door with a baseball bat attacking us," she said, adding that Hammond "swung (the bat) like a golf club."

In response to questions from Levco, the woman described how Carter helped Hammond restrain her and Ivy. She could not remember who did what, but she was sure Hammond restrained Ivy with duct tape, and she was sure Carter helped Hammond restrain her with a mix of duct tape and velcro straps.

"When they were restraining you, were they both doing it?" Levco asked the woman.

"Yes," she replied.

Carter would go on to hold her at gunpoint as Hammond raped her, the woman testified. She said Carter appeared "excited" and "angry" as she told Hammond to "do anything he wants to me."

Carter's Arrest:Woman faces murder charge after two people were found shackled inside Evansville home

In the hours after the assault, the woman said Carter left the residence in the 1800 block of Stinson Avenue to travel to a job site while herself and Ivy remained bound. According to prosecutors, Hammond strangled Ivy to death while Carter was out of the house. When Carter returned, the woman said she "heard" Carter help Hammond move Ivy's lifeless body.

Police would go onto to free the woman after they surrounded the home Oct. 19. According to prosecutors, a woman Carter hired to do household chores alerted police after she found Ivy's body buried under a pile of clutter and heard the woman's cries for help.

Carter was arrested outside the home shortly after police arrived and was preliminarily charged with abuse of a corpse, according to booking records. One day after her arrest, an Evansville Police Department spokesperson said Carter was likely Hammond's accomplice, and within a week, prosecutors formally charged Carter with multiple felonies, including murder.

The Vanderburgh County Prosecutor's Office dismissed the murder charge ahead of Carter's trial in November but refiled the charge in December after the mixed outcome. Levco and Vanderburgh County Deputy Prosecuting Attorney Audrey Beckerle dismissed the murder charge for a second time ahead of Monday's trial.

After the surviving victim testified, EPD crime-scene investigator Ben Gentry exhibited dozens of photographs he took inside Carter's residence following her arrest. Levco positioned a large diagram of the home on an easel to aid jurors in understanding how the photographs corresponded to the layout of the home.

Levco also questioned several law enforcement officers who were present at the scene of Carter's arrest, including Vanderburgh County Sheriff's Deputy Jeff Fentress. The deputy's body camera footage, which prosecutors played for jurors, showed the moment Fentress rescued the surviving victim. She could be heard pleading for help.

"She was crying, hysterical and appeared to be very scared," Fentress testified. "She was also lying in a pool of blood."

Carter's defense challenges key witness' credibility

The surviving victim's recollections are critical to Carter's case, which largely hinges on the extent to which she aided Hammond. Blackard, her attorney, painted Carter as a victim during his opening argument, as he did during Carter's first trial.

Carter "was not in any way responsible," Blackard told jurors Monday.

More:Heidi Carter trial begins Monday following mixed verdict in November

With regard to eyewitnesses who directly implicate Carter in Hammond's crimes, Blackard told jurors to keep in mind that there was "heavy drug use between all parties" and, under cross examination, questioned the surviving victim's memory of certain events.

"Do you remember, specifically, who did what?" Blackard asked.

"No, sir, I do not... specifically," the woman replied.

"Unequivocally, you did not see Heidi Carter move (Ivy's) body?" Blackard asked minutes later. Again, the victim said she did not.

Other lines of questioning from Blackard probed for details that could paint Carter in a sympathetic light: He asked the victim to describe the clothing Carter put on her, the food Carter brought to her and any statements Carter made that may indicate she was a victim, not a perpetrator.

"She said she was going to get me out of here, but that we'd have to kill (Hammond) first," the woman recalled. She said the statement did not make much logical sense to her at the time. The woman also recalled an instance when Carter told her, "I'm not going to let him hurt you anymore."

Under questioning from Blackard, the victim said she interpreted this statement as an empty promise.

Trial's second day could feature digital evidence

The evidentiary phase of Carter's three-day trial in November ended moments after Vanderburgh County Circuit Court Judge David Kiely blocked prosecutors from presenting key evidence to jurors — more than 600 pages of Carter’s Facebook correspondence with Hammond.

Those records could have pointed to Carter's culpability as Hammond's alleged accomplice, but Kiely ruled the documents inadmissible — a major blow to then-lead prosecutor Hall's case. Kiely said the state lacked certifications to show the records had been compiled accurately by Steven Toney, the EPD detective who investigated the case.

Previous Trial:Heidi Carter will not testify, prosecutors and defense rest case

On Monday, Levco successfully entered the Facebook correspondence and other digital records into evidence without objection from Blackard or additional question from Kiely, but he has not yet discussed the contents of those files in open court.

In addition to the digital evidence, Levco and Beckerle intend to present Carter's video-recorded interrogation, Ring doorbell footage, DNA evidence, and medical records over the coming days, according to the state's list of witnesses and exhibits.

Prosecutors also intend to question Dr. James Jacobi, a pathologist, and Cyntha Weinzapfel, the woman who alerted authorities to Ivy's death. As the first day of the trial concluded, Levco said the state may finish presenting evidence by Tuesday afternoon.

Kiely sentenced Carter to serve one year in prison after she was convicted of carrying a handgun without a license in November. If jurors find Carter guilty of committing all six offenses for which she is currently charged, she could face a decades-long prison sentence, according to Indiana's advisory sentencing guidelines.

Houston Harwood can be contacted at walter.harwood@courierpress.com.

This article originally appeared on Evansville Courier & Press: Heidi Carter on trial again for 2021 Evansville kidnapping, muirder