Testimony was paused for a while after the judge had issues with the pool camera inside the courtroom.
When the trial started, the Hattiesburg Patriot News Media was the only camera Judge Tomika Irving allowed inside the courtroom. Now, that will no longer be the case.
The judge denied that camera request after she said the photographer kept a Facebook Live feed going even after she sent the court into recess for lunch.
Following that decision, investigators searched the entire courtroom for any audio or listening devices. Also following that decision, defense attorney Dennis Sweet requested the first of two mistrials.
Both were denied.
During Wednesday’s trial, prosecutors continued to interview James Jefferson. He’s a former investigator with the Claiborne County Sheriff’s Department. Prosecutors showed two videos of two different interviews Jefferson and the sheriff’s department did with T’Kia Bevily.
One when she was not a suspect, and one when she was.
In the video, you hear investigators asking T’Kia about Jurayah’s death and what happened leading up to her death.
In the second video, investigators notify T’Kia that Jurayah’s death has been ruled a homicide, and that reports show the 14-month-old suffered head injuries.
Video shows T’Kia becoming emotional and expressing that she had nothing to do with the injuries nor death, and had no idea how either could’ve happened.
However, District Attorney Daniella Shorter is presenting a case refuting those claims. She asked the witness if there were any discrepancies in the two videos.
Some of the main ones highlighted are T’kia having two different descriptions of what Jurayah was wearing the night she died, and noises the 14-month-old was making not long after she was put into her crib to go to sleep.
Meanwhile, Sweet accused Jefferson and other investigators of not getting to the bottom of things regarding Jurayah’s death, accusing them of only getting statements from T’Kia and not following up on anything after that.
Prosecutors say they still have at least 10-12 more witnesses they plan on calling to the stand. The court is in recess until Thursday morning at 9 o’clock.
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