Chris Chambers' State of Mind Key in Trial for 2009 Slaying of Girlfriend
Chris Chambers is accused of second-degree murder in his girlfriend's death.
By MATTHEW PLEASANT
THE LEDGER
Published: Tuesday, September 14, 2010 at 12:01 a.m.
BARTOW | A Circuit Court jury must decide whether aspiring rap producer Chris Chambers accidentally shot his girlfriend or whether suspicions she was cheating drove him to fire the fatal blast from 2 feet away.
Opening statements in the Chambers' trial began Tuesday morning. He is accused of second-degree murder in the death of Stephanie "Dapheney" Joseph, 19, of Lakeland.
Joseph was killed June 17, 2009, by a single shot as she showered at the apartment they shared at the Imperial Crown apartment complex at 1017 Griffin Road.
The trial before Circuit Judge John Stargel is expected to conclude Thursday. Testimony resumes this morning.
In his opening statement, Assistant State Attorney Peter Sternlicht told jurors that Chambers told police shortly after the shooting that Joseph, whom he had dated for about a year, was unfaithful. The couple had lived together six weeks.
"He was obsessed with the fact that he thought Ms. Joseph was cheating on him," Sternlicht said.
But Chambers' lawyer, Robert Trogolo, said Chambers, 25, thought the handgun was unloaded and pulled the trigger in jest, "expecting a click and not a boom."
Trogolo told jurors he doesn't dispute many of the details described by the prosecutor. But whether Chambers is guilty of second-degree murder depends on what they decide Chambers' mental state was when he pulled the trigger.
"We're going to ask you to make a decision about what happened on the worst day of Christopher Chambers' life," the defense lawyer said.
As the tall, thin Chambers enter the courtroom Tuesday morning, he smiled at the group of relatives and friends gathered in the courtroom seats, one of whom blew him a kiss. He kept his head bowed and his hands folded and silently moved his lips while the lawyers spoke.
Chambers, a former Florida Refuse employee, kept a recording studio at the apartment he shared with Joseph and used to perform in the local hip-hop duo the Wilson Boyz. He went by the stage name C-Note.
Three weeks before the shooting, Chambers purchased a 9 mm Glock handgun for about $700, Sternlicht said, that Chambers told relatives he needed for protection.
The prosecutor said Chambers often would point the gun at relatives and friends, and would pull the trigger in a playful manner.
Joseph didn't like his having a gun, Sternlicht said, but understood why Chambers said he needed it.
But Chambers grew suspicious his girlfriend was cheating. Sternlicht said Chambers kept a digital video camera in their bedroom and later questioned Joseph about what he saw on the recording.
The afternoon of the shooting, Chambers saw their bed was unmade and entered the bathroom where Joseph showered.
"Babe, why are you cheating on me?" Chambers asked, according to Sternlicht. His girlfriend denied it.
Joseph pulled the shower curtain back and Chambers, Glock in hand, asked her a second time, Sternlicht said. She denied it again. Chambers fired a single shot, striking Joseph above the right eye.
The bullet casing landed in the bathroom sink, Sternlicht said.
Chambers called 911 and police went to what was described to them as an "accidental shooting."
But Trogolo told the jurors that Chambers frequently played with his girlfriend, and that the afternoon of the shooting was another one of those times.
"This was not done by ill will, hatred or malice," he said. "Because of that mistake, he killed the love of his life and he has to live with that every day of his life."
[ Matthew Pleasant can be reached at matthew.pleasant@theledger.com or 863-802-7590. ]
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