DNA testing, messages from suspect reviewed at Columbus murder trial. Jury will deliberate

Five witnesses were called Wednesday morning in the case against Caron Giles, who is accused of killing his mother, Lachasta Giles, at Springfield Crossing Apartments in 2019.

Caron Giles, who was 18 at the time, faces the possibility of being convicted for murder. Arguments in his trial concluded Wednesday, meaning jurors will deliberate Thursday.

The witnesses called to the stand Wednesday gave expert testimony, and included a DNA analyst at the Georgia Bureau of Investigation Crime Lab, a medical examiner and a firearms examiner.

Medical examiner: Shot went through victim’s heart

Colin Hebert, the medical examiner who performed the autopsy on Lachasta Giles, took the stand Tuesday morning. Hebert testified Giles suffered an entrance gunshot wound to the left side of her chest and an exit wound on her back.

Hebert said the bullet that went through Lachasta Giles’ body went through the upper and lower lobes of the left lung and the left atrium of her heart while going through her body.

Hebert ruled the death a homicide and said the cause of death was a gunshot wound to the chest, according to his testimony.

DNA testing matched the suspect, investigators say

Catherine Jordan was a firearms examiner for the GBI in Columbus for 17 years. Jordan was responsible for testing a weapon and comparing it to a projectile in the case, according to her testimony.

The projectile was recovered from the scene of the crime and the gun was found under a mattress in the Giles apartment, the Ledger-Enquirer reported. Jordan said she found that the projectile had been fired by the 9 mm Ruger pistol.

Carissa Apparicio, a forensic DNA analyst for the GBI, handled DNA testing from samples gathered from the pistol.

She testified DNA samples collected from the trigger and trigger guard of the pistol matched the DNA profile from Caron Giles.

Police: Suspect sent messages about shooting

The last witness to testify was lead detective on the case, Zachary Cole. Cole previously worked as a detective for the Columbus Police Department and investigated the death of Lachasta Giles.

The apartment complex only had surveillance video of the front entrance, which was located at the front of the apartment complex pointing towards North Lumpkin Road off the entrance, according to Cole’s testimony.

In Cole’s testimony he identified a 909 phone number, previously mentioned in testimony Tuesday, and said it belonged to Lachasta Giles. The 909 number had been in contact with Arthur Alexander on Oct. 1, 2019, the same day as the shooting, according to testimony given Tuesday. Contact between the two was discussed while Alexander was testifying.

Cole testified that data retrieved from Caron Giles’ Facebook page showed messages which Giles sent to another person, saying he wanted to know who shot his mother. In the messages, Caron Giles he said he thought a woman killed his mother. He wrote that he heard the gunshot and grabbed his gun, but didn’t get to the parking lot and turned around and tried to call his mother, according to Cole’s testimony.

Caron Giles said in the messages that he then walked back to the apartment, put his gun away and got his apartment key. He walked to the parking lot and found his mother lying there, according to the messages read by Cole in court.

Caron said in the messages that his mother carried a gun and said, “they didn’t find hers, but they found mine in the house,” Cole testified.

Final arguments focus on bullet with no blood

Public defender Angela Dillon, representing Caron Giles. claimed in her closing arguments there was no blood on the bullet allegedly fired from Caron Giles’ gun, and asked jurors how the bullet could go through Lachasta Giles’ body and have no blood on it. Dillon also asked jurors to consider whether the projectile recovered was the bullet that killed her.

Dillon also told jurors that no gunshot residue was found on Giles hands when he was tested for it.

Dillon also told jurors testimony showed multiple cars were coming in and out of the apartment complex that night.

Dillon told jurors that Caron Giles is a man who loved his mother, and was captured on body camera footage saying “I ain’t got nobody” after his mother died.

Prosecutor Meghan Bowden argued that the shot was a “through-and-through” shot, and that’s why there was no blood on the bullet. She said there’s many routes for the jury to get to a guilty verdict in this case, through the evidence shown to jurors.

The trial is scheduled to resume at 9:30 a.m. Thursday with charges being read to the jury before they begin deliberations.