Prosecutors alleged Monday that Thomas Starks ambushed a couple in a Gary apartment complex — shooting Kajah Wilson dead — while defense lawyers told jurors the evidence didn’t add up.
Thomas Starks, 22, of Gary and formerly Chicago, is on trial, charged with murder, attempted murder, aggravated battery and burglary. He lived upstairs from the couple at the time.
“Monsters come out at night,” Deputy Prosecutor Jacob Brandewie told jurors in opening statements.
He accused Starks, with another person, of robbing Wilson’s apartment of shoes, an iPad and phone in the days leading up to the shooting. He pawned the phone at a kiosk for $11 and still had the receipt, the prosecutor said.
The next day, the couple saw him with an open backpack. The stolen iPad was inside. Police later found “incriminating” messages when they subpoenaed Starks’ Facebook account.
Starks later told police he wasn’t there and didn’t know the couple, Brandewie said. Investigators never recovered a gun.
Defense lawyer Maryrachel Durso said it wasn’t a “buttoned-up, open-and-shut case.”
There was no DNA, gun, or direct witnesses, she argued.
“These things would all be very helpful,” she said. Investigators “could have had these things.” Instead, they “dropped the ball” and “jumped to conclusions.”
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, 27, was pronounced dead at the scene. Her death was ruled a homicide.
She was found shot inside the commons area. Her fiancé was wounded. He told officers they were returning from Buffalo Wild Wings when a gunman ambushed them from above.
The man added 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 another woman, who is not charged in the shooting — were caught on camera burglarizing the victims’ apartment. Packages had also gone missing, according to the affidavit.
Wilson confronted the girl’s mother, 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.
On the night of the shooting, the apartment building’s cameras captured the victims going inside, armed with two guns. Then, the female victim’s “silhouette” falls down, hitting the front door’s glass.
The alleged shooter — also wearing a glove and holding the gun in his left hand — flees toward the back of the building.
No one appeared to come inside the building for at least two hours before the shooting.
The male victim said he didn’t get a good look at the shooter.
The man was shot in the hip and ankle, and needed surgery to repair two fingers. He would probably have permanent damage to his hand, according to court documents.
Police learned the iPad was pawned on July 26, 2023, at a shop on the 6100 block of Cleveland Street in Merrillville. The customer — Thomas Starks — used his own ID card.
The case is before Judge Natalie Bokota. Deputy Prosecutor Veronica Gonzalez is assigned. Durso’s co-counsel is defense lawyer Mike Woods.
Post-Tribune archives contributed.
mcolias@post-trib.com
