After Gary Police Sgt. Silas Simpson saw Ieisha Jefferson’s body two days after Christmas 2022, he tried to talk to her five young children, aged 6 to 1, to figure out what happened.
Authorities allege their father, Samuel Carlos Edwards, huddled them in the neighboring bedroom and closed the door, before shooting Jefferson dead in the middle of the living room. He called 911.
Only one child — a “very smart” 5-year-old girl — was able to answer his questions.
“Sam shot Ieisha,” Simpson testified she told him.
The child said they were her parents. They were arguing, her father had a gun and shot her once, Simpson said, appearing crestfallen as he recounted what he saw.
One officer ran out to buy McDonald’s for the kids, so they wouldn’t be hungry. The wrappers are seen in later police photographs of the bedroom.
Edwards, 38, of Riverdale, Illinois, is on trial this week.
He is charged with murder, five counts of neglect of a dependent, and one count of misdemeanor domestic battery. He has pleaded not guilty.
In opening statements, Deputy Prosecutor Lindsey Lanham said the child thought her mother was “sleeping.”
Jefferson died after the bullet entered her neck and lodged in her head, the prosecutor said. Her death was ruled a homicide. Edwards was later arrested in Houston.
Defense lawyer Michael Lambert told jurors the evidence didn’t stack up and they would be “troubled” by “what you hear.”
Prosecutors played the 911 call Monday — from a man named “Carlos.”
“I don’t know what happened,” he said. “I just heard a couple shots,” he said before he hung up.
Police traced the call to Edwards’ cell phone number.
Detective William Poe of the Lake County Metro Homicide Unit wrote that Gary Police responded early on Dec. 27, 2022 to the 3800 block of Adams Street where they found a woman fatally shot in the head lying against a sofa, an affidavit states.
Police identified the children through Hoosier Health cards lying next to Jefferson’s license. The child didn’t see the shooting, but heard one shot and saw Edwards with a gun, according to court records.
Edwards handed the children Jefferson’s phone, herded them into a bedroom, and closed the door, according to the affidavit. The child heard arguing before a gunshot.
Jefferson had her right arm over her face, as if trying to defend herself. Three live, .38-caliber bullets were found nearby.
Detectives subpoenaed the cell phone of the 911 caller, which pinged at the Adams Street address at the time of the shooting. Jefferson’s friends and family shunned Edwards for how he treated her, court records allege.
A witness told investigators Edwards and Jefferson had dated on-and-off for six years and had five children. They moved to Gary the year before. He was “very abusive.”
Before her death, Jefferson planned to leave Edwards and move to Mattoon, Illinois.
Another witness said Jefferson texted via Facebook messenger in October 2022 that Edwards “give me a black eye and pulled my hair out” before they planned to go to church. Jefferson “begged” him to leave for a month, according to the affidavit.
She also sent Facebook messages to the witness of her visible injuries, according to court records.
If she died, “just know my baby daddy did it,” Jefferson allegedly told the witness. She added she knew Edwards kept a gun.
Records show Gary Police responded to their home in October 2022 after the pair argued about money, Edwards pulled her hair, then punched her and kicked her back as she lay on the ground.
The case is before Judge Natalie Bokota. Deputy Prosecutor Arturo Balcazar is assisting.
Post-Tribune archives contributed.
