Shooting victim may have followed police orders

LIMA - A police sergeant's careless actions led to the fatal shooting of an unarmed woman holding her baby as she crouched down, possibly to obey his commands during a drug raid, a prosecution witness testified Wednesday.

"It would seem to me, in that position, the deceased was probably complying with [Sgt. Joe Chavalia's] orders," said John Foy, a tactical weapons trainer for the Ohio Peace Officer Training Academy.

Foy testified during the negligent homicide and negligent assault trial of Chavalia. Chavalia is on trial for the Jan 4 shooting death of Tarika Wilson, 26, inside her home at 218 E. Third St. Her infant son was wounded in the shooting. Police raided the home to get her boyfriend, Anthony Terry, who was a known drug dealer.

Foy said Chavalia did not properly identify a threat and fired at a target from a spot on the stairs where it would have been hard to see.

"From that angle, there's not much to see," said Foy, who seemed reluctant to offer testimony against an officer. "There was insufficient target identification."

Foy based his testimony on various witness statements, and a review of records and photographs of the crime scene. The bullets fired were close to the floor on which Wilson was standing, making it highly likely she was crouching on her knees when she was shot, according to testimony.

There also was no muzzle flash coming from the room Chavalia fired into and he could not see hands that typically are the first thing seen when there's a threat such as someone holding a gun, Foy said.

Defense attorney Mike Krumholtz, of Dayton, tried to poke holes in Foy's testimony asking how many SWAT raids he has been on and how many times he has been in the line of fire.

"I was never fired upon," he said. Foy also said he was never a SWAT officer.

Another prosecution witness, Dr. Diane Scala-Barnett, who performed the autopsy on Wilson, said the pathway the bullets took inside the body indicated she was leaning forward and close to the ground, perhaps on her knees.

"Ms. Wilson was in a position where she was down, hunched over," she said.

The testimony matched a SWAT officer's testimony from the day before who said he found Wilson on her knees slumped over with one arm stretched out.

Barnett also said Wilson, who bled to death after two bullets severed major arteries and veins, had no drugs or alcohol in her system. The bullets entered her neck and chest.

Special Prosecutor Jeffrey Strausbaugh rested the state's case Wednesday. The defense is scheduled to begin its case at 9 a.m. today.

Earlier in the day, more SWAT officers who participated in the drug raid testified, including SWAT commander Lt. Chip Protsman, who confronted Chavalia within minutes of Chavalia shooting Wilson.

"I said, ‘Joe, what happened?' He said, ‘They were firing at me from the bedroom and I shot back,'" Protsman said.

Protsman walked into the bedroom and found another SWAT officer with Tarika and 1-year-old Sincere, who had been wounded.

Throughout the trial a lot has been made of whether SWAT officers carry their weapons set on automatic or semiautomatic mode. Automatic has the potential to empty a 30-round clip with one trigger pull compared to semiautomatic which fires one bullet with each separate pull of the trigger.

So far, Chavalia is the only officer to have his gun on automatic, however, only four SWAT officers testified, three of whom carried rifles into the raid. Chavalia kept his gun on automatic based on a past situation, said Special Agent Karen Rebori, of the Ohio Bureau of Criminal Identification and Investigation, one of two investigators on the case. She did not elaborate on that situation.

Rebori interviewed Chavalia, who read an eight-page typed statement before answering questions, she said.

"He saw a partial target that was moving," she said.

Chavalia said he saw an adult-size person peer in and out from the doorway three times. He did not see the person's hands. He then told her why he fired his rifle, she said.

"He told me he was in fear for his life," she said.

Chavalia was on a poorly lit stairway with an officer immediately behind him. He told Rebori he was unable to retreat, she said.

Protsman testified someone ducking in and out of a room, as Chavalia told investigators he saw, would be a threat. Gunfire occurring at the same time would elevate that threat, Protsman said.

"If I was under the impression they were using deadly force against me I would use deadly force," he said.

SWAT officer Chris Sprouse testified he confiscated Chavalia's rifle after the shooting and escorted Chavalia out of the house. Chavalia and Sprouse briefly discussed the shooting upstairs.

"He asked me if I heard gunshots. I said, ‘Yes, I did,'" Sprouse said.

Protsman also testified he spotted the target of the raid, Anthony Terry, in a back, downstairs bedroom, peeking out of the door. Protsman, however, did not shoot Terry but there was no gunfire happening at the same time.

Protsman was one of the officers who fired his rifle downstairs to kill pit bulls that posed a threat. That police gunfire set off Chavalia, who reacted by shooting because he believed he was being fired upon, according to testimony.