0:12Did you raise your right hand? Do you solemnly swear that the testimony you're about to give in this cause now at hearing shall be the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth shall help you be God? Yes.
0:22Thank you.
0:23You may have a seat and pull yourself right up to that plate.
0:36Thank you, Ar. May I inquire? Yes. Thank you. Good morning, miss. Good morning.
0:41State your name and spell your last name. Kelsey Fitz Simmons. F I T Z I M M O N.
0:49How old are you? I'm 29.
0:51Do you mind just pulling that mic a little bit closer just so that we can hear you? Is that better?
0:56And I didn't hear your answer your I'm 29 years old.
0:5929. Okay, thank you. Yeah, that's better.
1:01And what's the town of your residence currently? Newberry Port. Where'd you grow up? I grew up in Mthuan. Mthuan.
1:10Mthuan, Massachusetts. And did you live there your whole life? Most of it. Yes. Did you go to high school there? I did.
1:17And where did you go? Mthuan High School. When did you graduate? 2015.
1:23And you lived there with your parents and your family? Um yeah, I lived with my mom and my dad.
1:30There were um two different houses.
1:33Tell us uh tell the judge a little bit about your upbringing and your family and who? So I have my mom,
1:41my dad, my mom Lauren, my dad's Steven,
1:45my older brother, my biological older brother, Steven Jr. And then I have my
1:52stepfather, William Peach. His two kids that I consider my brother and sister, um, Madison and William.
2:00I I'm sorry, I didn't hear the names.
2:02My, um, younger brother and sister are Madison and William.
2:06Madison and William. Did you say that they were stepson? They are step. Yes. Try to keep your voice up. Okay. Sorry.
2:14Use the Use the mic like kind of like I am a little bit like that. Okay.
2:17All right. Thanks, Kelsey. So you guys are a close family, right? Yes.
2:24And they've been with you through this process the whole time, right? The whole time.
2:32When did you graduate high school? 2015. Did you go to college? I did.
2:37And uh where did you get your degree from?
2:39I got my degree from Bisher College. I got my bachelor of science in criminal justice. What year was that?
2:462020.
2:48what uh what were some of the uh awards and um uh distinctions you received at Fiser College?
2:57Um I was I think my junior year I was inducted into the Criminal Justice
3:03Honors Society in my senior year. Um, I was voted in as the president of the
3:10criminal justice club and I just worked closely with campus police there and the adviser of the criminal justice club.
3:20Did you work while you were in college? I did. Where did you work?
3:24I worked for the college um as a work study and I also worked as like a host
3:32waitress down the street at a restaurant called Cheers. Did you uh do any security work?
3:40Yeah. Um in 2016 I was hired by um Fenway Park Security
3:49and I believe I worked there in 2017 and like throughout all of Fiser College. I I worked for campus police as
3:58a work study like a dorm proctor checking IDs of students.
4:04Okay. After graduating Fiser College, you had the uh the B is it a BA or a BS?
4:12BS. BS in criminal justice. Yes.
4:15And what was your kind of goal for your life and your career with that degree?
4:21When I graduated, it was the peak of COVID, so everything got a little confusing on what my next steps were. My
4:30plan originally was to try to go straight to a police academy, but when I graduated it, there was no policemies
4:39running. So, I decided to cuz I love school, I decided to further my education and go to law school.
4:47Where did you go? And uh and tell us about law school a little bit.
4:51Um I went to Massachusetts School of Law. I did about three semesters and then um somemies started to run again.
5:04And did that change your uh your pathway? It did. What happened?
5:09Um the Essex County Sheriff's Department started doing police uh sheriff's departmentmies again. So, I applied to
5:17be a corrections officer and that was in 2020 and I went through their academy in 2021.
5:26Where's that academy?
5:27Their academy is at the uh Northern Essex Community College in Haveril, Massachusetts.
5:33And what was the uh course of study just in general? What did it entail and how long was it?
5:38Um it was it was three months. Um, it had a to do with just the training of being a corrections officer. Our whole
5:46job was safety and security of the inmates that were housed in the jail.
5:51So, it went a lot into safety and security.
5:55So, you spent three months at at the uh sheriff's academy. Yes.
5:59And you were hired by the Essex County Sheriff. I was. Yes. When was that roughly?
6:05That was in 2021. I think it was September of 2021.
6:11What was your kind of original first assignment when you got to the sheriff's department? How did you start there?
6:17I worked in housing. I was assigned to housing the whole time I worked there.
6:23Did you have any other uh jobs while you were um at the Essex Sheriff? When you pick up a overtime shift there,
6:31they kind of just throw you in where somebody is needed. So, I did a lot of different jobs just through all the
6:39overtime I worked, which included transportation of inmates to and from court. Um, I would work in programs.
6:47They have church and school for the inmates that reside there. And, um,
6:52there's outdoor perimeter security where you drive a cruiser around the perimeter of the jail to ensure no one's coming in
6:59or out. I did things like that on my overtimes.
7:02Okay. And in terms of the transport, you are actually the person that kind of comes to here to court, goes in the lockup, delivers prisoners, picks up prisoners, brings them back.
7:12Yes. How long were you at the Essex sheriff?
7:20About two years.
7:23What uh and at that point you had a a career path decision, right? A different decision. I did.
7:30And what was that decision? I always knew I wanted to be a police officer.
7:34And uh was there some opportunities that came up in that respect?
7:38Yes. While I was working for the sheriff's department, I had moved to North Andover. Um I really liked the
7:46town I lived in and I wanted to work in it as a police officer. So what did you do?
7:53I applied to the North Andover Police Department.
7:57Did you uh interview with uh Lieutenant Dailyaly? Was it I did. He was on a panel interview. They
8:06call it um like an oral board. It included Lieutenant Daly and several other members of the North Andover Police Department.
8:15And I I take it that you're not going to get hired there unless they approve you. Yes. And that happened and you were hired.
8:23Yeah. They do an extensive um hire check, background check and so forth.
8:29Yeah. Like there's a lot that goes with it.
8:31What you would expect in terms of a police officer getting hired. Yes.
8:36What's the first step when you get hired as a police officer? What do you do next?
8:39You have to go to the police academy for 6 months.
8:43So you've been through a three-month Essex Sheriff Police Academy training academy. And now you're about to start a
8:49six-month um North Andover Police Academy uh training, right? Yes. And where did that training take place?
8:58That also took place down the hall at Northern Essex Community College in Hebril. And you spent six months going to that?
9:07Six months. Yes.
9:08Was that uh is that something where you like stayed there the whole time or did you come and go? Did you commute? How does that work? I commuted. I got there in the morning,
9:17left sometime in the evening, and we had weekends off, so it was 5 days a week. Okay.
9:24When did you graduate from there?
9:26I graduated in 20 May of 2024.
9:32And did you run for any uh positions within the academy that they have in your class?
9:38Yes. Uh while I was in the police academy, I I ran for treasurer and I became the treasurer of my class.
9:46And what does that entail?
9:48That entails everything financial um through our academy. Um I would collect
9:55we had like academy dues. I would collect them and we would purchase things that we wanted um such as like
10:04sweatshirts and sweatpants to wear for our PT days as well as an academy
10:11sweatshirt. Um we also I also planned our um graduation party. So I I had to
10:19book it, collect the funds for it and plan it essentially. And is it is it a situation where there's different
10:27classes going on at once? Like class of 2020, class of 2021, like that? Yeah. And you were the class of 20.
10:35Well, my class was called rock five. So,
10:38I I don't know how the numbers go, but the one before me was four and the one after me was six. I was rock five. ROC5.
10:45All right. And when did ROC5 uh graduate? May of 2024. And And you graduated with the class?
10:52I did. And uh what was your first assignment with the North Andover PD?
10:58You first go to patrol on FTO and FTO is meaning you're with a field training
11:05officer. So you ride with somebody in the same cruiser for a period of time.
11:12Who were you who were your field training officers?
11:16I had several um because you you do different shifts. I had field training on um dayshift. My
11:25field training officer was officer Tyranny. I had field training on the four to midnight shift. And my field training officers were officer Ferman,
11:37now Detective Ferman and um Officer Susa.
11:42The uh entire time you were there, were there any other FTO's that you had just to just to kind of list them all off? I think there's um multiple officers there
11:50that are FTO trained, but those were the ones that were assigned to me to train me.
11:58So, you were I'm sorry. Oh, yeah.
12:16All set. Thank you.
12:19So, M. Fitz Simmons, in the in your employee at the North Andover PD, uh you assumed the job of a regular patrol officer at some point, I take it.
12:29Yes, I was a patrol officer. And you after you finish with field training officers, uh, do they have some sort of
12:37a say in how you function in the field and and you know report back to the administration or the supervisors about how you're functioning?
12:44Yeah. So, this the supervisor on your shift um your field training officer gives them like I think it's a weekly
12:52report of how I did on calls and what calls we went on together and how I performed, stuff like that. And
13:01eventually um I I think it I don't know exactly how many weeks I was on field
13:08training. But after it's complete, the sergeant will take you in his cruiser
13:15and you drive his cruiser and respond to calls or make traffic stops and then he decides if you are signed off on. And I
13:23was signed off and that day I got my own cruiser.
13:27And when was that if you remember just roughly? I think it was in
13:36I think it was in the end of June or early July of 2024.
13:45And just a a few things I want to just tick off uh on the on the list of things a police officer does. Uh did you serve restraining orders?
13:53I have before. Have you testified in court? I have. And you've made arrests?
14:00I have.
14:02Now, at the time getting moving over to your personal life, at some point you met someone named Justin Elaine, right?
14:10Yes.
14:11And what was your uh experience with Justin Elaine in a nutshell?
14:16My experience in a in a nutshell, we we met um through Facebook. We
14:23went on a few dates. We ended up hitting it off. um while was in the academy we were dating.
14:30He's he was is a North Andover firefighter. Um at my police graduation, he pinned me.
14:38Um and then I would I would see him on calls sometimes and we eventually um moved in with each other. We got engaged.
14:51We had a baby. And uh what was uh the baby's name? What's the baby's name? My son's name is Kaden.
15:00How old is he today? He's 13 months. And uh Justin Elaine is the father.
15:07He is. What happened on June 30th of 2025?
15:15On June 30th of 2025, um I woke up in the morning.
15:20Let me be more specific. I'm sorry. Did he take any actions relative to you in terms of your relationship that day?
15:28Yes. And what what what did he do?
15:36He obtained a restraining order against me.
15:45Is it Is it fair to say that he broke up with you via a restraining order? Yes.
15:52I did not I did not speak to him. I realized our relationship was over when a restraining order was handed to me.
16:02Okay. So, let's rewind the events of that day. Okay. Okay. So, that morning, uh, were you home?
16:09I was. Were home?
16:14So, my sister slept over the night previous. So, June 29th to June 30th. So, she was over in the morning. Um,
16:22Maddie.
16:23That's Madison. Yes. I was um with my son. I
16:30had work at uh 100 p.m. I had to go to CPR training at 1:00 p.m.
16:36Okay. Now, had you been out of work for a while? I was. Yes. And when did you first go out of work? I went I worked up until I gave birth.
16:45Um Kaden came five weeks early. So, I I wasn't expecting it. So, I went out basically the day I gave birth to him.
16:56And his birthday is what? February 16th, 2025.
17:04Now,
17:08when you were seeking to go back to work, did you
17:15uh get cleared to go back to work in uh June of 2025? Yes.
17:21Did that entail going through certain trainings and and getting reviewed and stuff? It did.
17:26What was the uh event on the 30th that you had to do to uh to finish that off?
17:33I had CPR training at 100 p.m. on the 30th scheduled.
17:38Was that your last thing you had to kind of go through? That was it. Yep.
17:46Were you seeking to uh see Justin that day?
17:51Yes, we had spoken through text and on the phone in the morning. Um, I was
17:57asking if he would come home um because he hadn't been home in days to
18:06be with Kaden while I went to work. And his response basically was, I can pick
18:14him up and watch him. And I said, you're you're not a babysitter. So there was a bit of argument about that text argument.
18:24Yeah. It was like you're his dad. You're not a babysitter. You can come home. I don't understand picking him up and
18:31watching him. That was very odd for me to hear as his father.
18:37Moms don't like when dads say they're going to babysit their own kid, right?
18:41Yes. Like you're you're dad. And uh at some point just to kind of cut to the
18:48chase on that uh you made a plan to meet up in North Andover.
18:54Yeah, there was a lot of texting back and forth. Um he originally said yes and then he said no and then he said I'll
19:03meet you tomorrow and I said you have work tomorrow. That doesn't make any sense. He worked a 24-hour overnight shift. So
19:10is there something about gas money as well? Yeah. He said that he he couldn't drive from Stow, Massachusetts to North
19:18Andover because he had no gas in his truck. And I just
19:25was trying to get him to to meet me. I'm like, "We need to figure this out. I go I go to work in a couple hours. Like, we need to figure this out." He called me while I was driving to work and said,
19:38"I'm on my way to North Andover." Let me stop you right there.
19:41Okay. Let me just rewind you a little bit. All right. So, there's some texting about this, right? Yes.
19:48And the texting that that you have and that's been kind of passed around in the case. It doesn't end up with okay, I'll
19:55come and meet you at the North Andover common, right? No.
19:58So, was that was that arrangement made outside of those texts?
20:05Yes. Like looking back now, I think it was strategic, but um All right. Well, just I I don't want to keep I don't want to That's just my opinion.
20:13Yeah. I don't want to ask for your opinion on it. I just want to factually I'd like to ask you, were there some Were there a couple calls back and forth
20:20that kind of set that up once and for all?
20:23Yes. He called me on my way to work. I decided I'm going to bring my son with
20:30me. Um which wasn't a big deal, but um when I was on my way, he said he calls me.
20:37Hold on a second. Just to be Yeah.
20:40I just need to confer with our court staff. U Mr. Ring, can you um turn the just again pull yourself up to that mic?
20:49Y make yourself comfortable. May I appreciate you? Yes. Thank you.
20:56So, Miss Fims, the the last discussion we were having was that you were arranging to meet Mr. Elaan at the North Andover Common. Is that right?
21:05Yes.
21:07And did he call you about it on when you were on your way to uh CPR training?
21:13He called me. I think I was putting Kaden in his car seat. I missed it. And when I got on the road, I called him back.
21:21And uh what was the uh conversation about meeting up?
21:25It was quick. It was Kelsey, I'm on my way to North Andover right now. My mom just gave me gas money. I'll meet you at
21:33the common at 2. And I said, "Okay, I love you. Bye." And it had the phone call had already hung up.
21:40Okay. And after that, you went to work.
21:43I went to work with Kaden. With Kaden.
21:46And what was the schedule? What was on the schedule for today? For that day at work,
21:51it was a 1hour CPR training. So, it was going to go to about 2:00 p.m. So, it was uh 1 to two.
21:59Yes.
22:00Did you get there on time? I think I got there a couple minutes early.
22:06What was the uh layout when you got there? Who was there? Where'd you go? What was the uh
22:14you know general kind of mood of you going there?
22:16So, um I knew it was going to be held in the community room. I was told prior that's where it was going to be held.
22:23So, right when you walk through the officer's entrance of the police department, the community room is the first door on your right. So, I just entered right through there.
22:33And you had your baby? I did.
22:36And it's fair to say this isn't a a visit to the police department where you're in full uniform or anything, right?
22:42No, I was in a t-shirt.
22:45And that's because you're going to be training working on, you know, those rubber dummies that you Yeah.
22:52you train for CPR with, right? Yes. Okay.
22:57Who Who met you when you got to the police department? Who was there? Um, officer,
23:03sorry, Detective Gordon um was conducting the training.
23:08I'm sorry. Did you say Gordon with the G? Gordon. Yeah. G O R D O N. Thank you. And you saw him?
23:15Yes, he was conducting the CPR training.
23:17Did you see any other friend and colleague officers around that time period? I saw Lieutenant Dominico as well. And did you have a chat with him?
23:25I we didn't really talk cuz I was in the middle of the training. I think it was just we waved to each other. Okay.
23:31When he was walking out of the door was uh what happened with Kaden while you were doing the training?
23:39I asked um Detective Gordon if he wanted to hold him because I figured he hasn't held a baby in a
23:47long time. So, it's kind of funny seeing guys that haven't held a baby in a long time and they're like, "Ah." But did he did he hold the baby?
23:57He did. Yeah. Okay. And it's uh is he someone that you trust to hold your baby? Absolutely. Yes.
24:04Do you let just anybody hold your baby?
24:06No. Officer or Detective Gordon um was my drill instructor for my six-month police academy. So he I knew him more
24:15because of that. I saw him every day for six months. You trusted him? Yeah.
24:22And how did the training go? It went fine. Normal. passed. How did that uh how long did it take it?
24:30It takes about an hour. What time did you finish? I think it was around 2 p.m.
24:37Who else did you see while you were at the station?
24:41Um just lieutenants a minute ago. I had texted I was supposed to pick up my radio from um an administration office
24:49upstairs and I had texted the person that was giving me the radio and said, "I'm just going to grab it tomorrow."
24:55tomorrow cuz I was like more focused on go to the park. So I was like I can just drive to the station tomorrow and grab my radio. Um
25:04were you uh quote unquote on the schedule? Yes. Start soon. Yes.
25:10And when were what was the schedule when you were going to start?
25:13I was going on to the day shift which is 8 to 4:00 p.m. And I was supposed to start on July 4th. Okay.
25:26You left the police station at about what time?
25:30Uh, Detective Gordon walked me to my car. Um, I probably pulled out around 2 20 2:05.
25:37Where'd you go?
25:39I drove down Osgood Street to the common.
25:46Who's uh who's this guy? Hunter Hassam.
25:50That was one of Justin and I's mutual friends that lives in the town of North Andover.
25:58Did you go by his house?
26:01Yes. So, the only the only logical way to get to the common from the police station is to take Osgood Street, which
26:09is what I did. And he lives on that street. So, I ha had to drive by his house when I was on my way to the common.
26:18Okay. Did you see anything at his house that uh surprised you? Yes. What did you see?
26:24When I drove by, I saw Justin's truck and at first I thought nothing of it. I thought maybe he got into town before I
26:33got out of training and stopped in. Like that would be normal. Um but then I started noticing other cars I recognized
26:40there as well. And whose cars were those? I saw my mate of honor car, Katrina Caruso. I also saw
26:51people standing outside near his pool. I know I saw his sister, um, Courtney,
26:58Justin's sister. And I know I saw Michelle Mitchell,
27:05um, which was another one of my bridesmaids. So I was like, what is going on? And uh this meeting was not something that you knew about.
27:14No, I was supposed to be meeting Justin and Justin was at our mutual friend's house with people and I just like was so thrown off. I was confused.
27:25Did you actually see Justin as part of those people you saw around his pool?
27:30I drove by quick. I saw a group of people. I recognized the trucks and the people I did definitively see. Yes. Um,
27:39I know Justin was there um from the truck. Yeah, from his truck. Okay. So, in terms of your confusion,
27:47are you are you wondering if he's there or if he got a ride to the common or something like that? What's the why did you just stop there and say, "Hey, what are you doing?"
27:56Well, cuz I was just driving by and then I was like, "Well, that was weird." Um,
28:02so I tried calling Justin and then that's when it just like communication stopped. No, he was not answering my
28:10texts. He was not answering any more phone calls. I even went as far to uh text his friend Hunter and say, "What is
28:17going on right now?" And am I allowed to say what Hunter said back to me? So, did he respond to you? He did. Yes.
28:25Did it affect your state of mind about what was going on?
28:28No. It confused him even even more because he said, "Oh, everyone's just meeting up um for people who forgot
28:36things at the house from the bachelor bachelorette party that happened pre."
28:44He said everyone was meeting there to pick up things that they forgot and I was like meeting in North Andover and I was trying to make sense of it and I was like did that add to your confusion?
28:53Yeah, cuz I was like this person lives do you have a question? I I I just So who um who was who said this and how I I
29:02didn't catch So I had texted when Justin had stopped answering me. Um I texted his friend
29:09whose house he was at and I knew he was there cuz I had to drive by from This is Hunter. This is Hunter. Yes. Now now I get it.
29:16Okay. Yes. So, I texted Hunter and he told me um everybody was meeting there
29:23to get things that they left at the bachelor bachelorette party and like that's in my mind that made me even more
29:31confused. It didn't make sense because everybody lives here there there why meet in North Andover.
29:38Let me stop you right there. So, as a result of that kind of adding to your mindset,
29:45sounds like adding to your confusion, right? Confusion. Yes.
29:49Did you stick to the plan to go meet him at the common or did you divert somewhere else? No, I I went to the common.
29:57Okay. And you got there what time? It was probably like 2:10. And did you wait there with Kaden?
30:06I did. And approximately how long did you wait if you can remember?
30:10It was at least an hour. It could have been more. Did you Did uh did he ever show up?
30:17He never showed up.
30:19What time did he make a plan a decision to get out of there at some point?
30:24Yeah. Well, I was I was receiving other phone calls which were adding to my confusion. Not what was said, but from whom?
30:33Um they were from Michelle. Okay. And uh she was the woman who testified here yesterday, right?
30:41Yes.
30:42And she indicated that she was trying to meet up with you and you were to get coffee.
30:48And you were trying to focus on meeting with Justin. Trying to meet Justin. Okay. Like I love you. I'll call you later.
30:55Trying to meet my fiance at the park. To Michelle. You said that? Yes. Okay.
31:01Did you um go home after that? Yes.
31:08What time did you go home?
31:11Um it was at least an hour after 2:00 p.m. So sometime around maybe 3:30 cuz I know I was waiting a while at the park.
31:20Um Kaden's bottle had run out of milk. So I or formula I had to go home. Now,
31:27as you sat here for the last couple of days, you'd heard a lot of business about where you parked your car. Do you remember that? Yes.
31:35So, you didn't park in your driveway, right? No.
31:37And you parked your adjacent to a school at 125 Phillips Brooks Road, right? My neighbor to my right is school.
31:45I should say for the record, your your home is 125 Phillips Brooks Road. That's my home. Single family house in North Andover.
31:53Right next to what school? the Atinson Elementary School.
31:57And there's a big parking lot next to your your fence line. Yes.
32:01All right. And when you came back from the common, um, you parked in there. Yes.
32:09Why did you park in there? Because I didn't know what was going on.
32:13I knew something was going on. I first have my fiance just not showing up to meet me
32:22and not talking to me anymore. And then somebody that doesn't know I saw them trying to call me and they're trying to
32:30meet up with me. I'm trying to meet up with Justin. And a bunch of other people were there. That didn't make sense. And
32:38I thought they were going to come to my house or something. So I didn't want anyone to know I was home. So I just parked at the school.
32:46Okay. Did this have anything to do with uh the North Andover Police Department?
32:50Had nothing to do with the North Andover Police Department. Okay.
32:55So, you parked at the school and as a young new mom, you probably had a lot of stuff you had to carry.
33:02I had his diaper bag. I had him in his little carrier.
33:07And I think I had my phone in my hands and my house keys.
33:12And you walked around and you went to your door. Yeah. It was genuinely a 60-second walk. Okay.
33:19To my car from to my house. Sure.
33:21From my car to my house. And you went into that porch, that porch door that we've seen on the video here. Yep. My front door. It leads to a porch.
33:29And then you got up on the porch and you make a left into another door into the house, right? Yep. Okay.
33:38What happened uh when you first got home? What did you do? I made Kate a bottle.
33:47I I called my mom.
33:49I asked my mom if she would come over because it was like what what do I do? Like what's going on?
33:57So, you wanted some support from mom?
33:59Yeah. So, like advice. My mom's my best friend. I just like I knew she'd come over and maybe like have a different figure out.
34:08Yeah.
34:11Sorry. I'll withdraw that judge. I'm just trying to move on.
34:14What What was your Mr. Brad? Um I I assume the objection is for leading repeatedly. Yes.
34:21Okay. All right. Yeah. If you can uh just stay away from leading. Thank you.
34:25What was your state of mind about having mom come over?
34:29I was sad. Um I was really confused and I wanted her advice.
34:36How far away does does your mother live?
34:38Uh she lives in Malins. So, it was about her house is about 7 to 8 minutes away,
34:44but I think she was on her way home from work at the time and she has to drive right by my house. Okay. Or my old house.
34:52How did uh how was Kaden at the common and then getting home? How was he behaving in terms of fussiness or was okay or sleeping or quiet or what?
35:01Um I ran out of his bottle while at the common. I thought I'd brought enough. I think I if I my if our plans played out,
35:12I would have had enough for the taking a walk in the common, but because I was waiting for so long, um I ran out of his
35:21bottle and he started crying. I drove right home.
35:26And then at home, you made another bottle and started to admin give him the bottle. Yes. Beat him.
35:32Okay. Um what time did your mother get there?
35:37uh approximately like maybe five to 10 minutes after I got home.
35:44And you sat uh did you visit with your mom for a while and and consult with her on the situation?
35:50Yeah, we sat on my couch while I fed Kaden. Um she did some like my house was messy so
35:58she was just trying to pick up around the house a little bit for me. Um we were talking. Okay. And uh did she leave at some point?
36:08She did. When was that?
36:11Uh probably had her over for about an hour.
36:19So maybe like 5:00 she left.
36:28Was her uh car in the driveway? Hers was. Yes.
36:35And obviously she got in the car and left in in her car.
36:38Yeah. I told her that I was going to be packing and probably going camping
36:45with my son, which is normal for me. We My family owns um land. We call it our happy place. Um I've been going there
36:54since I was a baby. So I was going to go there to clear my mind since Justin wasn't going to meet up with me. I just figured I don't have work till the 4th,
37:04so that's what I'm going to do. And the idea of sitting around
37:12I just didn't sound sustained. Oh, so next question.
37:25Why did you want to go up to the land?
37:29to clear my mind. Um, I've brought Kate in there two times before and like for a
37:36fourmonth old baby, he he crushed it up there. He loved it. So, I just thought I
37:43texted Justin, I'm going to my land. He knows what that is. He proposed to me there. Um, he knows that I call it my
37:51happy place. And I told him, I'll send you pictures when I get service and I love you cuz there's not good service up there. And that was the last thing I ever said to Justin.
38:03When your mom pulled out of the driveway,
38:07did you get a visit from the North Andover Police?
38:10I heard someone knocking on my front door when I walked up to the porch.
38:14How long after your mom left did the police knock on your door? I know now approximately 3 minutes.
38:22And how what were you able to do to figure it out? Pretty well. My home w has a lot of surveillance. My dad owns a
38:30security company. So, my home had a lot of surveillance outside. So, I was just curious like
38:37how long was it after my mom left that the police came? And I believe it was about 3 minutes approximately.
38:45Can you use the the video system to refresh yourself on time lap time intervals and such? Yeah. Yes.
38:53And uh while we're on that topic, um are are there timestamps on the clips from your house? Yes.
39:01And do you do you have any knowledge of uh the accuracy of those time stamps at some point? Um one of the daylight
39:09savings happened. So my cameras were 1 hour off.
39:13And how how off? Like which way off were they? Like if it if it said it was 5:00,
39:21it was actually 4:00. Okay. So it's an hour ahead. Okay. Hour ahead.
39:26All right. So in terms of any clips that come from your house, does the time stamp show ahead? Yes.
39:34Okay. So are you referring to what's in evidence? Yes.
39:38Okay. The all of those um uh video clips. Yes, your honor. Okay. So,
39:47just want to make sure. Did we say that right? That the clips are an hour ahead or is the actual clip an hour behind?
39:57I have to think about this. I'm sorry. It's okay. We can come back to it later. I do that all the time. That's okay.
40:05How long after your mother left did you hear a knock on the door? Like 3 to 5 minutes.
40:15Where were you when you heard the knock?
40:17I was sitting on the couch feeding Kaden in my living room.
40:22What did you do when you uh when you heard the knock?
40:26I put the bottle on the coffee table. I got up with Kate in my arms and I opened up the door.
40:34You walked out on the porch and I walked out on the porch. So there's like two doors. My front door is leads
40:40to a porched in area. walked out onto the porch. I opened up the front door for three police officers.
40:48And who were they? It was Lieutenant Daly, Officer Nunan, and Officer Houston.
40:55And Lieutenant, let's just go through each of them real quick for a second. Okay.
40:59Lieutenant Daly you talked about in terms of training and hiring and all that, right? Yes.
41:04And what about uh Officer Non? What was your relationship at the time with Officer Non? He had transferred um after I had already started.
41:15We were on the same shift for a brief time. Um on one of our shifts,
41:25there was a really horrible call.
41:28So, we'll get to that. But just generally in terms of your relationship,
41:30that's just like how our relationship kind of even started. That's why I brought it up. That's how we became like texting each other and kind of more than
41:40just like you're just my coworker and I've never talked to you too. We've had conversations and talked about personal things.
41:48Did you think well of him? Yes.
41:50And to your knowledge, did he think well of you? I think so. So now you mentioned a particular call.
41:58Yes. And um just so we don't have to dwell all over it, it's a it's a call that involves a murder suicide and the murder victim is a young baby, right?
42:09Yes. And when was that call? It was in August of 2024.
42:18Was that response just you and him?
42:22I I believe I was the first officer in with officer Quavvis and like then
42:29officer Nunan came. It was like a pretty much when something like that comes over the radio, everybody starts heading
42:36there, but the call was in my sector. So I the sector I was assigned to that night. So I was the closest with officer Quavvis. So we walked in together. Okay.
42:48And and just to just to encapsulate it,
42:51the the call involved administering first aid and it was a difficult call. Yeah.
42:57And that's kind of the source of when you sort of broke the ice with officer.
43:03Yeah. We stood outside of the scene for a long time. All of us, everybody who
43:11was on that call and um we talked and then the chief had asked us to um
43:20we were like out of commission for the night. Um, other officers came in and filled in for us and we had like a a meeting debrief in the chief's office.
43:33He had pizza delivered.
43:35Okay. And just in general, fast forwarding all the way to June 30th or 25,
43:40um, did you ever have any problems or issues with Officer Nan? No.
43:44Did he ever, to your knowledge, did he ever have any problems or issues with you? No.
43:50So there's Nan and then who's the third officer there? Officer Houston.
43:54And uh we saw him testify here as well today. Uh yesterday, right? Yes.
43:58And what was your relationship with officer Nan? Nan or Houston. I'm sorry. Houston. Thank you.
44:04Um I was closer with Houston. Um probably out of the three of the people that were at my house that day, um I
44:13Houston and I were friends. Um he came to my engagement party. He was invited to my wedding. We have the same type of
44:22dog. We uh I don't I think they've met before. The dogs, I mean. Um yeah, he's a work friend.
44:30He's a work friend. Yeah. So, these three come come to the door.
44:35What are the circumstances of how they come in the house? Did you let him in or or did how did that happen? I opened the door and Lieutenant Daly immediately put
44:43his foot on my front porch and they just waiting to just come in and I was like, "Okay, all right."
44:51I I didn't hear that. What? They they when I opened the door,
44:56Lieutenant Daly put his foot into my porch and they just said, "We need to come in." And I I said, "Okay."
45:05And then did you turn around and you and Kaden walked back in the house and they followed you? Yes.
45:10So, what happened when you, the four of you, five of you got into the living room area? Um,
45:18they asked me, Lieutenant Daily asked me to put Kaden down in his car seat. Um,
45:26they've referred to it as like a rocker does rock, but it was his car seat. And, um, I was in the middle of feeding him.
45:33So I when I put him down, he was obviously crying and I was like,
45:38"Whatever this is, I'm going to hold my son." Um cuz I had a folder. I knew they were going to give me something. Wasn't at that moment.
45:49Yeah. Did you have any idea what was going on?
45:52No, I knew like obviously I knew something was going on. The police are in my house, my co-workers, but when they told me to put Kaden down, I was
46:00like a little hesitant because I'm in the middle of feeding him. And then I I listened. I put him down and he started
46:07crying and I was like, I'm no, I'm gonna hold my son, whatever this is. Like, I'm going to feed my baby and read it. So, I
46:14picked Kaden back up and I had him on my lap while I opened the envelope. And that's when Lieutenant Daly said,
46:21"Justin filed a restraining order against you." Okay.
46:24So, you're trying to read it and he's talking to you and the baby's crying?
46:27Nope. Baby isn't crying anymore. I picked him up and I'm feeding him. Okay.
46:32What did uh Daly say to you about the situation?
46:37I said I asked a lot of questions like why I was supposed to meet him at the park like a couple hours ago. I'm
46:44confused. He said he didn't know anything. And I said, "Do you have the affidavit so I can read what I'm being
46:53accused of?" And they didn't. And they said they didn't know the details. And he said that Kaden was on it as well.
47:02And did that affect your state of mind? Yes. How so?
47:10I knew in that moment I was going to have to hand my four-month-old to a police officer to be brought out of my house.
47:23How did that make you feel? I don't know if there's a word, but sad.
47:32Were you able to have a minute or two to kind of comprehend it or did did something else immediately happen?
47:40Um, I comprehended it. I I was asked to pack a bag for Kaden for about two weeks.
47:51Who asked you that? Lieutenant Daly said the the court order I mean the court
47:57date was in 14 days. So we said pack enough for two weeks. And he said that to you? Yes.
48:06Okay. So you didn't take it upon yourself to want to do that?
48:13No. They they told me that I needed to pack a bag for Kaden because he was going to go be with Justin for at least the two weeks till the next court date.
48:26Who was there when that was uh when that came up?
48:31That was when the three of them were we were all in my living room.
48:36Did uh Houston or Nunion say anything at this point? Um,
48:42no. I handed I had a I knew if I put Kaden back in his car
48:50seat, he was going to cry. He loves being held. Um,
48:55so the plan at that point was to go get some stuff. Yes.
49:03So, you had to put Kaden somewhere? Yes.
49:07And what did you do? I handed Kaden to Officer Nan.
49:13Why' you Why'd you give him to Officer Nan?
49:16I I just I mean like I could say I trusted all of them. Um but I I knew
49:24Officer Nunan has I knew so I know Officer Houston has no kids and I knew
49:32Daily seemed like preoccupied and I knew Nan had kids. So, I guess that's probably what went through my mind, but it really wasn't that much of a thought.
49:41I just knew I had to had to have someone hold him cuz I didn't want him screaming in his car seat on the ground.
49:51Was he someone that you trusted to do that? Yes.
49:56What happened when you handed your baby to Officer Nan? He took Kaden from my arms. And what about the bottle?
50:03What happened with the bottle? He took the bottle as well.
50:06What what did he do with respect to the bottle in Kaden? He was trying to feed him.
50:17Did officer Nunan uh exhibit any resistance or discomfort or anything with respect to holding the baby?
50:25No, I think he said like, "Oh, I haven't done this in a while." Like something like that. Okay.
50:31Um,
50:35what was your uh intention at that point to to do? I had to pack his bags.
50:43And uh are you as you're starting to go figure that out in terms of luggage, what do you need,
50:51where's he going, etc. Um, are you having kind of an unfolding thought process, if you will?
51:02sustained. I'm just asking her what she's thinking.
51:05You I don't I mean it just What are you thinking?
51:11So, it took I grabbed one of my duffel bags and I
51:21first went in the kitchen and as I was putting the bottles in the bag, it was just kind of like all setting in exactly
51:29what was happening. And there was just so many unknowns. And as
51:38I was packing things, I was like, I just Okay, Justin just broke up with me via
51:46restraining order. We have a wedding in 4 months. Kaden is not going to be with me for 2 weeks.
51:53That's that's an eternity for a mom, any mom. And everyone was just brushing over
52:01the fact that it was 2 weeks. And I was like two weeks without Caden like and I
52:08was I just kept in my mind was just going fast like I I can't work overtime cuz I have a son now. I can't afford my home by myself without overtime.
52:19It it was just a I lost everything. Even my doggy was on the restraining order.
52:25Maverick my dog Maverick was on the restraining order. So, was he your dog or Justin's dog?
52:33He was my dog. So, I saw my baby go, my fiance, my dog,
52:41my house. And I knew that it was going to be my job, too.
52:47Cuz whatever I was accused of wasn't good if at restraining order. And you didn't have the affidavit?
52:56No.
52:58Where did you go after you went to the kitchen with the duffel bag and the bottles?
53:03I went all around the house cuz his diapers were um in one room on shelves. His bottles
53:10and formula were in the kitchen. His toys were in the living room and his books and stuff were upstairs with his clothes.
53:21Tell us what you did on the on the first floor before you got upstairs. What was it? What was the packing there?
53:26On the first floor was um bottles and formula and he was just getting introduced to um
53:35like purees and I had just um ordered um purees from Target. So I
53:44packed all those too. Um then I went into the Thank you. I I went
53:52into it was like our exercise room. It had shelving on the wall and there was just like a ton of boxes of diapers. Um
54:02I just put those aside and was like two weeks a lot of diapers. So keep the boxes.
54:10Um and then I went upstairs.
54:13All right. Before you got upstairs um part of the order was that you had to give up your firearms, right? Yes.
54:22Did you say anything to the officers about the location of your firearms? Yes, I did. What did you say?
54:28I told them that they were in the basement. Was that true? No. Why did you tell them that?
54:35Because I didn't want them to take them away. Why not?
54:39Because I wanted to be alone with my firearm and take my life.
54:45When did you make that decision? I made that decision as I realized I had just lost everything in a
54:5415-second conversation with my coworker.
55:04Where were your firearms?
55:06They were upstairs in a green safe. In your bedroom? In my bedroom.
55:25Thank you. So you went uh upstairs you mentioned. Yes.
55:36When what was your state of mind at that point whether or not Justin was coming over or not?
55:43I didn't think Justin was coming over. I knew that Kaden was going to Justin,
55:50but I would never think Justin was coming over. Why not?
55:56That's just not like normal practice to put a plaintiff and defendant in the same room intentionally. Usually, you're doing the opposite as police officers.
56:07So, I I didn't think Kat um Justin was in the house. And the opposite being what? What do you What's the opposite of what they did here?
56:17They let Justin in my house. So what's the normal procedure?
56:24Normal procedure is to separate people.
56:28Um it's like the first thing you do on any call where there's any sort of argument. You separate.
56:40Now, you've served restraining orders, you mentioned, right? Yes.
56:44Is there a provision in those orders for uh accessing property?
56:50I don't know about specific provisions. Um,
56:58I can tell you like what I've done before on a call where there was a restraining order involved. I don't know if it's a provision or not, though.
57:08Okay, we'll move on from there. Okay. So, you were going to go upstairs? Yes.
57:14And you had made that that awful decision already? Yes.
57:23What was your state of mind about whether or not you wanted to involve any police officers in that?
57:28I didn't want to involve anybody. I was trying to get everybody away from me.
57:33Why didn't you want to involve any police officers in that? these police officers in particular.
57:39I I wanted to be alone so I could kill myself. I decided that I was going to take my own life.
57:50I didn't want to involve anybody else in that. I I'll just Okay.
57:58Did you go upstairs um back and forth a couple times or did you just go up there once?
58:06I think I went up it I I think I went up at least twice. The
58:12second time I went up, I was up there for a while.
58:17Do you remember who accompanied you on each of these trips?
58:21It was Officer Houston and Officer Nunan.
58:24Was that the first time or the second time? That was the second time.
58:30And was there a visit upstairs before that? Houston and Nunan visit.
58:36Yeah, I was trying to hand them things to so they would go away. Where did that happen?
58:44That happened upstairs. So, I was first in the room you walk up, there's a landing. The room on the left is Kaden's
58:52room. I went in there first and I put books in a um car seat cuz Justin Struck
59:00didn't have the car seat and I handed it I don't even know who I handed it to.
59:07One of them and I said, "Can you bring this downstairs?"
59:10Um and I What was the uh what happened after you said that?
59:16Somebody brought it downstairs and then they came back up.
59:20I So you struck out in terms of what your testified to earlier?
59:26Yeah. I just was I just kept trying to hand them things to make them go away.
59:36Meaning What do you mean make them go away? Be more specific if you can.
59:40Like I What was the plan? I knew if I pulled
59:47out my firearm in front of a police officer,
59:53I would get shot. That was not my intention,
59:57and that's not what I did. I was trying to get them away from me, so that didn't happen. So, they weren't put in that
1:00:05position cuz I'm I'm not dumb. I I'm was a police officer. If someone takes out a
1:00:12gun in front of you, yes, that's a threat. Yes, that somebody that you probably feel threatened from.
1:00:22So,
1:00:26but if you want to kill yourself, why not just let it happen that way?
1:00:29That's No, that's selfish. I would never do that.
1:00:36Even looking back now, um, like reflecting for 9 months, I think my decision to
1:00:44do it to myself was selfish to everybody who loves me. So, I'll just leave it at
1:00:50that. What I wanted to kill myself, me and my gun, no one else involved.
1:00:59How many different times did you try to have the officers transport some stuff downstairs? Several.
1:01:09At some point, um, did officer Houston leave the second floor? Yes.
1:01:18And that left who up there? Officer Nunan.
1:01:22So upstairs it was officer uh Nunan and yourself. Yes.
1:01:28At some point, did you go across that landing to the other room? Yes. Tell us about that.
1:01:35I was on the floor packing more clothes in the duffel bag. In which room? My my bedroom.
1:01:44We walk up the stairs to the right.
1:01:46Okay. So, you you finish up in the other room and you go to your room. Yes.
1:01:50All right. Tell us the circumstances of where do you go? Where does Nun go when you go into your bedroom?
1:01:58So, nobody came into my bedroom with me.
1:02:02I was asked I I can't even say who exactly like I don't I don't know if officer Houston had come back up at the
1:02:09time, but somebody asked me who who is that downstairs? And I said, I I have no idea.
1:02:19And off Let me ask you a little bit about that.
1:02:22What was your state of mind about you being asked that? What were you thinking about?
1:02:29I I don't I was like, I don't know. Did you Did you hear anybody come in?
1:02:34No. No. But they did. I was cuz they were on the landing. They would be able to. I was like more into my bedroom than
1:02:43them. So, I was like, I have no idea who's here. Shouldn't you guys know? Okay.
1:02:50Um, what happened next?
1:02:54Officer Houston walked down the stairs first.
1:02:59Officer Nunan followed him down several steps.
1:03:06Did that give you a chance to do anything?
1:03:09That was I knew my only chance to be alone with my firearm.
1:03:20show you. What's shown in exhibit 51?
1:03:30That's my bedroom. That's the room on the top of the landing to the right.
1:03:36Where's the photographer standing in this picture? He's standing in the doorway.
1:03:44When you went to go get that firearm.
1:03:48Was there anyone in your view in that landing? No. Was this after you saw Nunan depart?
1:03:56Yes. His back was turned towards me. He was following Officer Houston downstairs.
1:04:02Did he uh did he stay that way or did he disappear from that scene?
1:04:09Well, he must have turned around at some point and walked back up the stairs because you know how when you uh you're near
1:04:18somebody that's going up and down stairs, you can hear going up and down stairs. Did you hear any particular number of steps?
1:04:25I'm I'm certain I heard him and saw him walk down several steps.
1:04:29Okay. And how did that affect your state of mind at that very instant?
1:04:35I knew that was my moment to do what? kill myself. What did you do?
1:04:44So that shoe box was not on top of the green safe at the time you were doing this.
1:04:53At the time? Yeah. There was nothing on top of the safe.
1:04:56All right. And you're referring for the record, there's a orange lined box in the picture.
1:05:02Yeah. It looks like Is that what you're talking about? It looks like a shoe box. Yeah. Yes.
1:05:06Mr. Can you just give me a moment to catch up? Sure. Absolutely.
1:05:21I'm sorry. Did you say that that box was not on the What? What did you say about that box? I
1:05:28That box was not there. That the top of the chest. I'm calling it a safe. It's a chest that locks. That's where I kept my firearms.
1:05:39The top of it, nothing was on it. So,
1:05:42whatever was placed there after that was not there before. Thank you. Ready to go?
1:05:50Yes. What about the chair? Is that how the chair was?
1:05:53The chair was turned the other way cuz that was the chair I, you know,
1:05:59would rock it in. That was not facing that way. The back of the chair was up against the wall, I guess.
1:06:05So, it's kind of like as you'd expect it to be in the room facing.
1:06:08Yeah, it would need to pivot like this to be right. So, it was probably moved. My room is small.
1:06:15Okay.
1:06:17And to get at your guns in there, you kind of have to flip up the top of that chest. Yes.
1:06:26Were you where was your focus in terms of
1:06:35the firearm, the chest, whether Newton's coming back? Where are you focused?
1:06:40I was just like, hurry up before somebody comes back. And what did you do?
1:06:48I grabbed the gun out of the chest. I put it up to my chest here.
1:06:58So, what was going on with you putting it up to your chest? What was that all about?
1:07:03What do you mean when you say you put it up to like you just made a motion to your stomach area? Right. Yeah. Like I just grabbed it quickly.
1:07:10I bent over, grabbed it, put it here, took two steps backwards,
1:07:17and I don't want to make the motion of what I did cuz it's just horrible. Um, but I I put the gun up to my head.
1:07:27Which hand did you put? My my right hand. And where on your head did you put it? Just you can just describe it. My temple. Okay.
1:07:40Was Newton in the door frame by now?
1:07:45Not yet. He had just walked in like when I pulled the trigger on myself with the gun pointing towards my head.
1:07:58What happened when you pulled the trigger? He said, "Kelsey, no. Kelsey, no.
1:08:07I pulled the trigger.
1:08:09I'm sorry, but I said what happened next?" I got shot.
1:08:16How long after you said that did you get shot?
1:08:18I don't even think I got to the K in the word before I was shot.
1:08:28What uh what that feel like? What part?
1:08:35Getting shot in the chest. Hurt.
1:08:40Did the force of that bullet knock you in any particular direction? It knocked me backwards.
1:08:53Do you recall what happened with your firearm? Um, I got moved.
1:09:02It was Well, before we I'm sorry, bad question. I'll ask you a better question.
1:09:06Okay. Right at that point as you're shot and you're flying back or falling back,
1:09:12whatever you want to call it, can you remember what happened with your firearm?
1:09:17It fell out of my hands. It was to my head and it fell out of my hand and I fell on the ground and the firearm fell on the ground.
1:09:28Couple of questions before we move on.
1:09:30At any point when you were uh doing that, when you had the firearm up to your head,
1:09:40was Nan present during the time you raised the firearm to your head?
1:09:46Like when I motioned up to my head with it? Correct.
1:09:50No, he was not in the room. Nobody was in the room.
1:09:56When Nunan came into your view, where was the gun pointed? The gun was pointed at my temple.
1:10:04At any point, did you move the muzzle of that gun? No. Towards Nunan?
1:10:12No. Never. Did you move it anywhere? No. Never.
1:10:20Did you ever intend to harm Nunan? Never.
1:10:30What did you know about Nunan's uh kind of personal circumstances in your time getting to know him?
1:10:37Um he was like I mean so he he was a cop for a long time and I was considered
1:10:44like a rookie and like after I had like a few really bad calls in a
1:10:52row and everybody kind of knew it and the senior guys would like check in on
1:10:58me and give me advice and he was one of those people and he told me his own personal experience with like calls and how to handle them when they're bad.
1:11:12So, what was his family situation?
1:11:15I've met his wife. I knew he had a a a son just by like talking.
1:11:23Did you want to involve him in your tragedy?
1:11:27I didn't want to I didn't want to involve anybody. I wanted to take my own life. I never pointed the gun at a fellow police officer.
1:11:38It never happened. When you went onto the ground,
1:11:45what did Nan do after he shot you?
1:11:48I I thought he walked away and Lieutenant Daly came over to me and then
1:11:55I think Newton walked back over to me and like I couldn't really I couldn't say anything really, but I couldn't
1:12:04breathe and I think I was just like why did you do that? I'm like it hurts. It
1:12:10hurts. And then I just wasn't able I said why like why why and he was
1:12:19holding my hand. Officer Nan was holding my hand and I said why? I was so confused.
1:12:28Why? Where was Daily? Daily was there. What was he doing?
1:12:34He was on the radio. I don't know what he said exactly on the radio. I'm assuming like So,
1:12:44you get shot and you got you got shot in the chest, right? Yeah. Lower chest. Um,
1:12:51what after being shot, what was your uh what was your how did that affect your ability? I sound like a lawyer, but how
1:13:00how did that affect your ability to perceive things and recollect things?
1:13:05I went into like a huge adrenaline shock.
1:13:12It It didn't feel like normal pain. It almost felt like absent pain, but it felt like my entire body was burning.
1:13:23And I was completely alert, completely awake the
1:13:30whole time. I was speaking as much as I could. My lung was punctured. So that's why I was having trouble breathing. But
1:13:37other than that, I was very alert and aware of my surroundings.
1:13:46Where were you laying in the room?
1:13:48I was laying between my bed and the wall where the air conditioner is.
1:13:55Were your legs parallel to the foot of the bed or somewhere else?
1:14:01I think so. Yeah. I I think that they were Were you Were you bleeding?
1:14:08Yes.
1:14:16Is that the way you wanted this to happen? No.
1:14:26What do you remember next?
1:14:30The fire department got there fast. It felt really fast. Um,
1:14:37they put me in like a bag,
1:14:41a sack and like they were all tall guys and I I knew that my ceiling you would bump your
1:14:50head if you're over like 510. So when they were carrying me down, I said,
1:14:55"Watch your heads and they brought me outside and they I
1:15:02think when I was still in my house, one of the firefighters was trying to put oxygen on my face and I was taking it
1:15:10off and just saying, "I I want to die. I want to die. I want to die." Did you make any apologies at any point?
1:15:19I think I said, "I'm sorry. I tried to kill myself. I want to die.
1:15:24Like I I just didn't understand what just like I don't know what just happened.
1:15:32I tried to shoot myself and then I got shot in the chest. Like
1:15:39nothing really made like I was just in total disbelief and shock.
1:15:44Did you at any point before you got taken out of there, did you hear Nan saying anything about what happened?
1:15:53No. Did you see Houston yet?
1:15:59Houston? Yes. Um, he came in and I think he put like um medical like gauze on the wounds.
1:16:09Somebody did. He had the medical bag. I remember that. Were you able to sort of uh perceive the first aid techniques they were administering to you?
1:16:22No, I wasn't paying attention to to it.
1:16:25I was like trying to focus on breathing cuz it felt like I was choking. Like it felt like I was drowning.
1:16:35So, they bring you downstairs and uh at what point in the trip downstairs and out of the house were you trying to take off the mask?
1:16:43I think the whole time.
1:16:46And when I was in the ambulance, I said to everybody, "I'm a idiot. I just tried
1:16:54to kill myself with an unloaded gun. I'm a idiot."
1:16:58I said that to everybody. I said that to the hospital staff. I said that to all the firefighters. I probably said that
1:17:07when I was laying on the ground. Those were the words I just kept repeating.
1:17:13What uh what were they doing to you in the ambulance before the ambulance departed in terms of working on you?
1:17:21I got I was they were working on getting a med flight. I had to get a blood transfusion.
1:17:29Um,
1:17:31I finally agreed to keep the oxygen mask on my face and they were um, doing my vitals and just trying to keep me stable
1:17:40before I was going to be transported to the hospital. And what hospital did you go to?
1:17:46I was flown by medflight to Massachusetts General Hospital in Boston. So by helicopter?
1:17:52Yes. And then when you were in the helicopter, um, was there anybody that you knew in the helicopter?
1:18:00No. When I was in the ambulance, I was holding on to firefighter um, Smearel's hand.
1:18:09And can you spell that for the court?
1:18:11It's a funny spelling. Why don't you spell that if you can? I don't. I His first name is Kevin.
1:18:16And it says is, let me take a crack at that. Is it S M I E R T E L N Y? Yeah, I think you're right.
1:18:24Okay. And did he go in the helicopter?
1:18:29No, he was holding my hand the whole time I was in the ambulance and
1:18:36comforting me and I asked if he could go in the helicopter. I didn't want to let go of his hand. I asked, "Can you come in the
1:18:45helicopter with me?" And he said, "I I can't. No one can." Okay. So you get in the helicopter,
1:18:51you're transporting, you're getting transported to Mass General, is it? Yes. Now,
1:18:59was there another problem with the oxygen in the helicopter? it I it either like ran out or it shut off. And I
1:19:09when you're in a med flight, you're laying down and there's a person flying the helicopter
1:19:17next to you and I just like tapped him and like gestured. I can't like I felt like I was drowning again. Um felt like I was choking on I couldn't get a breath.
1:19:30So, I just like told him like I couldn't talk, but I gestured like to the oxygen that was above me. It wasn't working.
1:19:38And they I think they have switched the tank or something or turned it back on.
1:19:42Something happened, but my oxygen oxygen got shut off in the helicopter and they had to fix it.
1:19:51Was that indicative of maybe some kind of a change of heart about whether you wanted to die?
1:19:57Yeah, I I think so. It's it's hard to say in those exact moments
1:20:04because it took a lot of healing from the moment I decided to make a suicide attempt to now to be healed mentally.
1:20:17So, I don't know what my exact thoughts were in that moment, but I I know when I got to the hospital, I said, "I'm a [ __ ] idiot. I tried to kill myself
1:20:25with an unloaded gun. How could I be so stupid?
1:20:30What uh what was the uh length of time that you were at Mass General?
1:20:38Like the length from when I was admitted to discharge? It was 53 days. And uh how many operations have you had?
1:20:47I've had five.
1:20:49And what were the uh kind of the main issues that objection to the relevance
1:20:57uh relevance just the circumstances your honor of uh of uh what happened to her sustained. May I have a moment please?
1:21:05Yes. Take your time.
1:21:28All right. Um, so I um I need to let's take a a 10-minute break, please.
1:21:45Yes. are the most.
1:21:53Yeah, true.
1:21:54Could be. Well, they're the most dangerous, right? That's where I go into every call thinking it could
1:22:02be dangerous, but I guess domestics are if that's a fact, then yeah, sure. Okay. Can you just keep your voice up?
1:22:10Yes. Sorry. It's okay.
1:22:12Sure. Well, okay. We'll step back and we'll go. Every call is dangerous, right?
1:22:17It could be. Sure. Well, you have to treat it that way. Yes.
1:22:21Because you don't know what you what you're walking into. Yeah.
1:22:24Domestic calls, like we just talked about are can be especially dangerous because you're dealing with people who are sometimes highly emotional,
1:22:32right? That's why you always separate when you get to a scene.
1:22:36And we'll get to that. Okay. And I agree with you that you need to keep people apart, right? Excuse me one moment.
1:22:44Yeah. You're going to need to um ask closer uh cross the mic. Okay.
1:22:53Thank you. When you walk into a domestic situation,
1:23:02whether it's restraining order that you're serving, whether it's a call for some sort of domestic violence, right?
1:23:09You walk in there with a heightened sense of awareness. Is that is that fair to say?
1:23:14As a police officer, you always have a higher sense of awareness,
1:23:19but domestics are kind of a different animal sometimes, right? I Yeah, I guess so.
1:23:24Okay. And um um because emotions are involved. True. Yes.
1:23:32And sometimes the opposite of love isn't hate, it's anger. And and and things can go um in nine different directions in a minute. Is that fair to say? Sure.
1:23:44Um, when you're dealing with someone who you know has a a mental health path past past, it can be even more volatile.
1:23:53Correct. Volatile. Yes.
1:23:56I wouldn't use that word as it pertains to mental health. Sir, respectfully,
1:24:01there is a as a police officers there is a heightened sense of awareness, right?
1:24:06You're taking all the information in in every call. Yes. Yeah.
1:24:10Well, domestic violence call in particular. You don't agree with me?
1:24:13No, I I do. I agree with you on on every call. A heightened sense of awareness is key to being a police officer. So,
1:24:21domestic car accident, any anything.
1:24:25We You go to We go to work in a bulletproof vest. Exactly. That's my point.
1:24:29Yeah. We have to When you go to a domestic call, we talked or you talked. You try to separate people, right?
1:24:37Yes. Because if they come together or they're you can see each other sometimes bad things can happen. Yes.
1:24:44And so when you walk into a domestic violence situation or any situation, right?
1:24:53Your first order of business is to keep everybody safe. Fair to say. Yes. The people who call, right?
1:25:01Yes. Um yourself. Yes. If you have a partner, your partner. Yep. The other officers. Yep.
1:25:08If there are family members there, you want to keep them safe. True.
1:25:12Yes. As a police officer, your job is to keep everyone including yourself safe.
1:25:17If there are children, you want to keep them safe. Everybody.
1:25:20Okay. So, um and if you think there are guns in the house, um that is a
1:25:27particularly um serious concern for you also, right? Yes. For your safety? Yes. Your partner's safety?
1:25:35Yes. for the children's safety for everybody. Right. For everybody. And you know that, correct? I know that.
1:25:40And so, you know, when you walk into a a scene when you think there may be some mental health issues, that there may be
1:25:48some weapons that you don't take your eyes off every anybody. Correct. Yes.
1:25:52Okay. So, you don't let someone walk into a room by themselves, right? You shouldn't. No.
1:25:57You should have I think with the with Officer Houston, you should be in their pocket, right?
1:26:03I'm not familiar with that phrase. Did he say that? He did. Okay. Um,
1:26:08if you're not familiar, you should be right near him, right? Yes.
1:26:11Because at any point, someone could grab a weapon. True. True. Use a weapon. True.
1:26:17And especially when there's a heightened sense of um volatility on some of these calls, right? Yes.
1:26:25Um and and you know that as um u as a police officer, correct? Yes.
1:26:32And that's just kind kind of common sense anyway, right? Yes. Um and you've been trained on that. Yes.
1:26:39And so you don't take your eyes off any of the parties. True. True. You don't leave them alone. True.
1:26:47That's what you're trained to do. That's what you're supposed to do. And that's pretty much common sense of what you do. That's what you're supposed to do. Yes.
1:26:56Right. Okay. We agree on that. We do.
1:26:59Now, if there is a you you were a police officer, so you know other divisions of the of the of the forces, correct? Like SWAT, you understand what SWAT is, right?
1:27:09I was a very new police officer. I was only on for about two years. I not familiar with SWAT. I I know what a little bit.
1:27:19Okay. So, we'll talk about what you know.
1:27:20Okay. SWAT is a uh like a special weapons tactical team.
1:27:25Yeah, I so I know that. I don't know exactly what their job functions are or what they do.
1:27:30You do understand that they respond to um highly volatile situations that are dangerous. Yes.
1:27:38Okay. If there is a weapon involved,
1:27:40somebody's barricaded, there's a an active shooter, they respond.
1:27:45Yeah. They they go to everything that's bad.
1:27:48Okay. because they're highly trained to deal with those situations. True. True.
1:27:52Okay. They're the ones who see guns all the time, see violence all the time, and have to react to a weapon. True.
1:28:00True.
1:28:01Okay. Because not every call um involves a weapon. Some of them are, like you said, car accidents. True. Every call is very different.
1:28:10Yeah. And so, but those guys are trained and picked because they deal with that stuff. Well,
1:28:18true.
1:28:19I I don't know how they're picked or trained. I know nothing about their training or the process of becoming on SWAT.
1:28:28Okay. But you know, to call them if something happens.
1:28:31I that wouldn't be my job, but um my supervisors, but yes, we can agree to that. Yes, they get called to bad things. I know this.
1:28:40They get involved with bad things and have to deal with bad things. Yes. And you know that as a police officer,
1:28:47you need to qualify and get trained in order to do certain things. If you're on like a domestic violence officer may have to be trained in domestic violence to be in a unit like that.
1:28:57Yeah. I mean, we didn't have that on my department, but I I have heard of that on other departments. like a domestic violence detective would probably be trained more in that sense,
1:29:09right? So there's sometimes specialties Yes.
1:29:13that people focus on that people are prepared to deal with better than other people. True. Yes.
1:29:19Okay. Um officer officer Nunan was on the SWAT
1:29:28team. You know that, right? You know that. I know that now. Okay. You knew he started in Landover. That's where he began his career.
1:29:35I knew he started in North Andover.
1:29:38Sorry. North Andover. And then he went to Lawrence. Yes.
1:29:41And Lawrence is really a different um atmosphere than North Andover. You agree with me there?
1:29:50Yes.
1:29:51North Andover North Andover does get the flood in of Lawrence.
1:29:55Well, there's some crossover, right? But you know what that crossover is? Yes. True.
1:29:59True. It's and not to disparage any community, right? But Lawrence has more guns than North Andover.
1:30:10I I think I don't know off personal knowledge, but I would assume. Okay. They have more gangs. Yes, that I do know. Yes.
1:30:19They have more drugs. Yes. They have more violence. Yes.
1:30:23They have more need for people who can deal with that stuff. Correct. Yes.
1:30:28Okay. And you know that um officer Nun um worked in uh Lawrence for years.
1:30:36I did know that. Yes. Okay. You did know that, right? Yeah, I did.
1:30:39And then he came back. Did Did you say he you were on the job or not on the job when he came back?
1:30:45I was already on the job when he came back.
1:30:48Okay. And you know he came back from Lawrence, right? And and when he came back from Lawrence, it was really he was
1:30:57the most experienced person on the force at this point, right? From what he had been through, I didn't I didn't know his experiences.
1:31:04Okay. You knew that he was I honestly like thought I looked at my lieutenants like as as that for me.
1:31:13Officer Nan, um back when you were on the job, you looked up to him.
1:31:19Yeah, I looked up to all the senior officers that were willing to train me or give me any type of advice. Well, we're talking about Officer Nun.
1:31:26He did that. So, yes.
1:31:28You look up to him. You knew he was experience, correct? Yes.
1:31:33You knew he was a by the book kind of guy that he was going to teach you. Well, yes. You went to him for that. I went to him for advice,
1:31:41right?
1:31:42And you went to him for advice because you thought he knew what he was doing, right?
1:31:48They'd been through the ringer and that's why he went, right?
1:31:51No, he he told me he reached out to me and told me that, you know, he's been on
1:31:58bad calls before and this is how he handles it, right? And he and you appreciated that.
1:32:06I did.
1:32:07Okay. And it seems like that was true with the advice he was giving you. Yes. Yes. A gentleman about it, right?
1:32:15Yes.
1:32:16Okay. Um Justin's a different story in your life.
1:32:24Correct. Justin. Um
1:32:33on June 30th, you had said that what was happening was a surprise. I don't know if you use those words, but the demeanor you gave off was this came out of the group, right?
1:32:43I was very confused. you were confused.
1:32:46But stuff, and we're not going to get into it, but stuff that happened that weekend before that Saturday, Saturday
1:32:53night, that would have gave you some inkling that something was wrong. Right.
1:32:58I I was aware, me and Justin were in an argument. I was aware the the second I woke up in the morning, that's why we were planning to meet.
1:33:05So, it wasn't a surprise that there was some strife between you and him at that point.
1:33:11No, I knew that. I I'm I'm saying I was more surprised about being ditched at the common and the police involvement.
1:33:19Those were the police had come to your house on that Sunday to check in on you. Correct.
1:33:24I got accused of um I'm not asking what you were accused of.
1:33:28They came to see if I was okay. They thought I was in a car accident. I was never in a car accident.
1:33:32Okay. Um um but they came to you because they're concerned about the price. They thought I was in a car accident. Okay. And on the Monday,
1:33:41somebody told them that on the Monday, well, okay, we'll get back to that. Okay. Okay. Um,
1:33:50on the Monday, uh, you were surprised by this order, correct?
1:33:55Yes, I was surprised by the order. And you say that um you have um no idea why this is happening,
1:34:08right?
1:34:09You eventually think that your um well, you know, Kaden's going to be taken away from you for a short period of time, right?
1:34:19You say short and that's fine.
1:34:23But he was 4 months old and it was 14 days. That's an eternity for for me. I grant you that. Okay.
1:34:30I grant you that. That is a significant amount of time for any parent. True. Yeah. True.
1:34:34So, I'm sure that was devastating to you, right? Yes. Yes.
1:34:39And it was Justin who was doing that to you, right? It wasn't the police. No. Right.
1:34:46It was Justin who went to court who said, "I should have custody of that child." Correct.
1:34:52Correct. And so that's who was doing these things to you, right? Yes. So that's who your anger was focused on,
1:35:02right?
1:35:03I mean, I don't even know if I got to the point of grieving of anger yet. Um,
1:35:09I don't think I was there yet, but if any emotions any of my emotions were directed towards somebody, it would be Justin. Yes.
1:35:18Because you felt betrayed. I did.
1:35:21And um and you knew he was going to get Kayen.
1:35:27I I knew that I had to give Kaden to the police for the police to give Kaden to Jess.
1:35:33Well, you know the police don't take custody of children, right? I don't know that. Well, as your time as a police officer,
1:35:39you have actually taken custody of a child in the left. I have. So you're telling this court,
1:35:46you're telling the judge that if there is not a family member to take a child because something happens that you
1:35:53actually take the child and leave. You don't call DCF.
1:35:56Well, you always file a 51A after the fact and then they come to the home and they take it, right?
1:36:02So I I guess the call I went on was different. I did end up taking this the juvenile in my police car. I drove her
1:36:10to the police station where she met with family members.
1:36:12Okay. So, how old was this was this person? She was maybe 12.
1:36:17We're talking about infants, right? You wouldn't transport.
1:36:20Oh, no. I I guess I guess council's testifying about facts that are not proven. Um they're sort of being
1:36:29suggested as if they're gospel uh which might mislead the witness. Okay. So, um overruled, but um Mr.
1:36:38Kumatossi, can you just um allow Miss Fitz Simmons to complete her answer and just I I just um like all witnesses, I
1:36:45don't want you folks um speaking over one another. Of course. Thank you.
1:36:50So, you agree with me that DCF typically come and get an infant, right?
1:36:56Yes. I've never personally had a call with Well, okay. Let's just talk about your career. You said you
1:37:04I think so. I don't I can't tell you for sure.
1:37:07Well, let let's just talk about your career. When did you uh graduate the academy? May of 2024. Yes.
1:37:14Okay. And you went out on leave on when?
1:37:18Um I went light duty while I was pregnant.
1:37:24I was about 20 weeks pregnant when um the duty ballot didn't clip anymore.
1:37:29Okay. So, but you went out on February 16th. That was Katie's birthday, right? So that's your official leave. Yeah, that's that's my official leave.
1:37:38Okay. So 20 weeks. Um and he was um So you do the math for me. How many how many how many months were you actually on the road?
1:37:48Um okay, let's see.
1:37:56So like 7 months and then I was late duty. So, I I st I graduated the police
1:38:04academy in May of 2024 and I went out on maternity leave February 16th of 2025.
1:38:14So, were you actually just on the road for 7 months?
1:38:17Uh, light duty. You're not on the road because I mean you're you're pregnant. Understood. Yeah,
1:38:24understood. And that was your choice to stay in in in uh in the station and work that way, right? Yes.
1:38:29Okay. But you were actually on the road going to calls um doing the dirty work as a police officer um just for seven months, right? Right.
1:38:38Yes.
1:38:39Um now I'm going to jump back to June 30th at the house after the police come.
1:38:43Right. You called your mom. They they you asked to do that and they let you do that, right? There's no prohibition.
1:38:50Are you're talking about after the police? Yes. After the police arrived. Yes, I called my mom. Okay. And she came. Yes.
1:38:58Okay. She came. Now she's your you called her your best friend, right?
1:39:03My mom is your best friend, right? And so you could have talked to her, correct? Yes.
1:39:11When Justin arrived, you knew he came in the house, right? You heard him. No, you didn't hear him come in the house. No,
1:39:18you knew he was coming to get the baby.
1:39:20I never expected a police officer to allow the victim or plaintiff in a case
1:39:28to enter the home where the defendant is. That Well, you knew he was getting the child, right?
1:39:33Yeah. But I thought I thought that some I passed Kaden off to walk outside. I
1:39:41never thought or I never knew Justin was in my home. Did you knew he was coming to the house?
1:39:48I thought they would do it at the school, but yes, I mean, I knew he was going to be in the vicinity. I never expected or knew he walked through my front door.
1:39:58When you went upstairs, um, and we talk we'll talk about that green chest you called it. Correct. Yes. Um, was it locked?
1:40:07No. Okay. You could just flip it open. Yes.
1:40:10When you uh claimed you pulled the trigger, it clicked. It did. It was not around in the chamber. Correct.
1:40:19Um, there was a full magazine in it, right? I think so.
1:40:27Yeah.
1:40:28Well, you use that gun to go shooting on Friday. True.
1:40:31That is true. That's That's why I didn't chamber around. Thank God. And when you're doing shooting, um,
1:40:37you're qualifying. What were you doing on that Friday? We have a qualification. Yeah. Okay. So, you had to do that, right?
1:40:44Yeah. Because when you're shooting for qualifying, when you're at the range, how do you hold your pistol?
1:40:52Two hands. And then there's some where they say use your strong hand or your left hand, your not strong.
1:41:00What's your typical reflex is two hands. True.
1:41:04Yeah. That's two hands extended. That's most of our the range day. Yeah.
1:41:10Right. That's your training. That's your That's the safest way to shoot a gun through. So that's your default.
1:41:17That's that's what we do at the range for those eight hours other than the one part where you shoot with your strong and non strong hands.
1:41:27So on Friday you spent hours shooting with two hands. Yes. Yeah. It was Friday. Yes.
1:41:35Well, I'm asking you. I think so. Now,
1:41:42you stated that after the police came and you um we're starting to process this. True.
1:41:52Yes.
1:41:53And it took a bit for you to process this. You about your life unraveling, if you will. True.
1:41:58Yeah. As I was packing things, it just started to hit me like this is going,
1:42:04this is going, this is going. just as I was walking around the house, I just was like,
1:42:10"All those things are going and it's all because of of what Justin did." Yes.
1:42:20Thank you. I have nothing else. Redirect. No redirect.
1:42:27Okay. All right. You may step out.