Slaying suspect takes stand in own defense
A Uniontown man told a Fayette County jury Wednesday that, after a night of drinking and drug use, he stabbed a Coolspring Street man in self-defense Oct. 19, 2001. Testifying in his defense, Nathaniel L. Stites Jr., 25, of Uniontown said he was only protecting himself from Christopher “Bubby” Kiss, 22, who held his throat in one hand and a gun in the other while Stites lay on his back on the kitchen floor of Kiss’ 107 Coolspring St. apartment.
“We began to argue, and he pushed me down twice,” Stites said. “He was on top of me with one hand on my throat and a gun in the other hand. I was scared, because I knew he used a gun before, and I thought he was going to shoot me.”
Stites testified that he visited Kiss’ apartment twice in the early morning hours of Oct. 19 to purchase cocaine, and on his third visit, the fight ensued.
“When I went to Bubby’s the third time I didn’t have any money,” said Stites. “I wanted him to front me the drugs and I would pay for it later.”
Stites said that when Kiss answered the door in his boxer shorts, he seemed “mad” because Stites woke him up.
Once Kiss had pushed him down, Stites grabbed his knife from his belt and started swinging at Kiss to get him off him, Stites testified.
“He still had his hand on my throat, and I was swinging (the knife) to get him off me,” said Stites. “I grabbed him after I got to my feet, and I pulled his boxer shorts off.”
Police found Kiss naked in a pool of blood on the kitchen floor, and his shorts were soaking in the kitchen sink. Stites said he didn’t remember putting the shorts in the sink.
Adrienne Clark testified Monday that she and her 1-year-old son were asleep when she heard Kiss, her fianc?, yelling that someone was stabbing him. Clark said she saw blood scattered throughout her kitchen and even in nearby closets.
Stites told jurors that after the fight with Kiss, the next thing he remembered was standing in the street, soaked in blood. He said he dropped the knife and walked home.
District Attorney Nancy D. Vernon asked Stites if Kiss was screaming in pain when he cut his throat and head to the bone and stabbed him in the chest and shoulder 35 times.
Stites said he didn’t recall.
“Are you asking this jury to believe that Kiss was holding a gun on you and didn’t shoot you but you were able to stab him 35 times?” asked Vernon. “How did he get stabbed in the back? You mean to tell me that all you got was a cut on your hand and broken fingernail?”
Stites replied, “I don’t know. I think he was mad because I was there so late and I didn’t have any money. Bubby pulled a gun on me and I cut him. The next thing I remember is standing in the street.”
Stites said he did remember taking a shower at the home of his ex-fianc?e, Rhenda Sutton, after the incident.
Sutton testified that Stites had been drinking most of the night before the incident, and she said she “begged him” not to buy drugs that night.
Stites’ attorney, Assistant Public Defender Mary Campbell Spegar, asked Judge Ralph C. Warman for a judgment of acquittal and not to admit the knife into evidence, because the prosecution didn’t establish chain of custody.
The knife already had been admitted into evidence, so Warman denied the motion. Uniontown Police Detective Phil Jones testified earlier this week that he confiscated the weapon.
Spegar also asked Warman for an acquittal on first- and third-degree-murder for Stites. Warman denied both. The prosecution is seeking a first-degree-murder conviction.
Spegar claimed that the prosecution didn’t establish premeditation necessary for first-degree murder.
“Premeditation can be very short. You don’t have to premeditate as you drive to someone’s house,” Warman responded.
Also, Spegar argued that the prosecution didn’t establish malice necessary to charge on third-degree murder.
“You’re telling me that (Stites) didn’t have any malice for 35 stab wounds to someone’s body, that it doesn’t display a wickedness of heart and mind? Legally, it does, so your motion’s denied,” Warman concluded.
Closing arguments are expected to begin at 9:30 a.m. today. The jury is expected to begin deliberations before day’s end.