Defendant takes the stand in Kaufman murder trial
Charged with first degree murder in the fatal December 2020 shooting of Butler County native Caitlyn Kaufman, DeVaunte Hill took the stand Saturday, Jan. 28, in day six of the ongoing trial.
Hill, 23, and James Cowan, 29, both of Tennessee, are charged in the death of the 26-year-old Nashville nurse. Kaufman was shot to death on her way to work Dec. 3 after allegedly cutting Hill and Cowan off on Interstate 440.
“I just remember picking up the gun and shooting,” Hill said. “I can’t tell you how many times I shot, I can’t tell you if I seen the woman. I just acted recklessly.”
Hill told the jury that he and Cowan, his cousin, visited Hill’s brother in the Hermitage neighborhood of Nashville on the evening of the shooting. The pair then left the house to pick up Cowan’s girlfriend.
According to Hill, Cowan drove the Cadillac SUV involved in the incident. He also admitted to being under the influence of Xanax and cocaine, and said that he and Cowan were smoking marijuana with the windows down during the drive.
Hill brought a Springfield XD-9 9mm handgun with him for the trip. He said he kept the loaded handgun on his lap after entering the car.
“She came from the left and just cut us off, and when Cowan hit the brakes it startled me,” Hill said. “I remember picking up the gun and firing the first shot, but I can’t recall how many shots, at the time, I fired.”
Georgia Sims, the Davidson County assistant deputy district attorney representing Hill, stated Wednesday that he fired six shots at Kaufman’s Mazda SUV.
Hill said he confessed the incident to Jacques Merrell-Odom, 23, on Dec. 4, unaware that he had struck anyone. He said Merrell-Odom offered to get rid of the weapon for him and provided him with a Smith and Wesson .40 caliber handgun to replace it.
In Friday’s trial, Merrell-Odom — who ultimately informed the police of Hill’s actions and collected over $50,000 in reward money — said that Hill came to him on Dec. 6 and did not explain why he needed to get rid of the Springfield handgun.
According to Hill, he learned that Kaufman had been struck only after giving Merrell-Odom the weapon. He said that he did not recognize the danger the handgun posed at the time of the shooting and only realized afterward that he had endangered someone’s life.
Assistant district attorney Jan Norman said that Hill was well aware of the danger the handgun posed. She presented Hill’s 2017 aggravated assault in which he shot and injured his grandmother and two other children, ages 12 and 6, as evidence of this.
Norman also pressed Hill on Cowan’s involvement in the murder and their affiliation as members of the 98 mafia crips gang. Hill claimed Cowan was innocent of any involvement.
“All he did was drive a car in a situation that he didn’t know — neither of us knew — was going to happen,” Hill said.
Cowan waived his right to testify Saturday.
The defense also brought Dr. Eric Warren, forensic consultant, to the stand.
Warren, formerly employed at the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation, owns a forensic consulting firm and specializes in firearm and toolmark identification as well as shooting reconstruction.
After analyzing the case, Warren testified that the vehicles were not driving alongside each other when the shooting occurred. This corroborated the defense’s position that Cowan braked behind Kaufman’s vehicle before passing on her passenger side.
He also explained that the trajectory of shots on Kaufman’s vehicle showed that the shooter could not have been leaning and aiming out the window while firing.
Further, cartridge casings found along the interstate pointed to a passenger as the shooter. Warren explained that the casings would have ejected into the car if the driver had been firing at Kaufman’s passenger side.
The jury was released after Warren’s testimony, and the trial is set to continue Monday. The prosecution is expected to present rebuttal proof before both parties’ closing arguments.
