Attorneys working the Princess Theater Shooting case appeared in Christian Circuit Court on Tuesday for an evidentiary hearing where Monday’s trial date was vacated and a ruling was made affirming that a recording of an alleged confession will be admissible as trial evidence.
Zamarius Humphries and Jaquavian Spencer, represented by Sands Chewning, are charged with first-degree assault in relation to a shooting outside of the Princess Theater in 2021. They both allegedly fired guns at one another and Humphries was shot in the neck.
Deovion Day, represented by Daniel Whitley, is charged with murder after he allegedly attempted to shoot Spencer but fatally shot Aniyah Collins and injured Gteria Acree.
Last week the defense attorneys, along with Commonwealth’s Attorney Maureen Leamy appeared in court for a hearing and Chewning filed an evidence exclusion motion concerning a Snapchat video where Spencer reportedly made some admissions.
The video was found as Hopkinsville Police Detective Mike Luckingham was investigating Cortez Hairston Jr. in relation to the shooting death of Adrian Acree in 2021. As he was questioned by Leamy, Luckingham says he obtained a Snapchat search warrant and came across a video of Hairston talking on the phone with who is believed to be Spencer about the Princess Theater shooting.
The video reportedly includes Spencer describing the shooting and admitting to acting in self defense when allegedly shooting Humphries. The video does not show the device Spencer’s voice is coming from, but Luckingham says from his understanding Hairston has one device that is recording the video and then another device that he is holding which Spencer’s voice can be heard from.
Chewning asks Luckingham if he is speculating the video and audio set up which he confirms.
After questioning Luckingham and fellow Hopkinsville Police Detective Shawn Bean, both Leamy and Chewning made final arguments before Circuit Judge Andrew Self’s ruling. Leamy described the video as a conversation that confirms findings at the crime scene and therefore should be considered as evidence.
On the other hand, Chewning says according to the testimony neither of the detectives can confirm the legitimacy of the video. Beyond the video, Chewning says there is no other evidence showing that Spencer and Hairston have any type of relationship.
Self ruled that the video will be admissible in trial since Spencer admits to possessing and shooting a gun which coincides with the charges against him
As a result of the video being declared admissible, Humphries, Spencer and Day will not go to trial together, instead Spencer will be tried independently. Self says this change will result in Chewning having to either represent only Humphries or Spencer, or neither because of ethical reasons.
The attorneys along with the defendants will reappear in Christian Circuit Court on June 19 for a pretrial conference to discuss how the case will proceed.