Defendant's mother testifies at murder trial

Yahoo

09-05-2025

May 8—LIMA — Latoya McClellan, the mother of a Lima teenager on trial for murder, dominated the proceedings Thursday in her son's jury trial in Allen County Common Pleas Court.
McClellan was called to testify in the case of her son, Donya Perkins, but much of the significance of the woman's appearance took place outside the jurors' presence.
Perkins is charged with murder in the shooting death of Steve Smith, whose body was discovered in the early morning hours of July 16, 2023, in the 1000 block of Reese Avenue in Lima, near the home of McClellan and Perkins. McClellan and Smith were alleged to have been involved in a sexual relationship at the time.
McClellan was the state's first witness of the day, but prior to the start of testimony Thursday, Assistant Prosecuting Attorney Josh Carp made a formal motion that the woman be declared a "court's witness." Carp said it had come to his attention that the defendant's mother "will testify differently" from statements she earlier had made to investigators and prosecutors.
Defense attorney Allison Hibbard, outside the presence of jurors, shared with Judge Jeffrey Reed information she had received that McClellan had threatened to invoke her Fifth Amendment rights against self-incrimination if forced to testify, and that prosecutors had threatened her with a murder charge if she elected to do so.
Carp vehemently denied that allegation. He said that during a meeting Wednesday with the witness, "We (prosecutors) just asked her what her intentions were" upon taking the witness stand.
Hibbard also sparred with prosecutors over text messages that prosecutors planned to submit into evidence in which McClellan reportedly threatened to blow up Smith's house and to kill the Lima man. Prosecutors said, and Reed agreed, that rules of evidence would not allow the defense attorney to question McClellan about the alleged threats.
Hibbard explained, to no avail, that the purpose behind that line of questioning was "to develop an alternative defendant" in the case. The judge overruled her objection.
One event, several stories
McClellan was convicted of tampering with evidence in connection with Smith's death. She was sentenced in March 2024 to an 18-month prison term for hiding the firearm allegedly used by her son to shoot and kill Smith. She was recently released from prison and is now on parole.
Taking the witness stand Thursday morning, McClellan was questioned by prosecutors about statements she made to Lima Police Department Detective Steve Stechschulte on the morning after Smith's death. The woman admitted to jurors that some information she had given the detective about the night of the shooting were "probably not true" because she was nervous and scared. In other instances, she said she just outright lied.
McClellan told jurors that late on the evening of July 15, 2023, her son exited the family home at 403 E. Second St. with a gun in his pants after Smith knocked loudly on the front door of the residence. She said Smith was in the yard when Perkins exited the home "and then the gun went off." Asked by Carp if her son fired the gun, McClellan answered "yes."
The witness admitted upon cross-examination that her testimony in court did not match what she had said to Stechschulte because she had been "drinking and smoking marijuana" the prior evening.
Prosecutors wrapped up their case in chief with Stechschulte on the witness stand. Jurors watched two videotaped interviews between the detective and Perkins, including one which took place the morning after Smith's death. Perkins initially denied any knowledge in the events surrounding the shooting but changed his story after McClellan was briefly brought into the LPD interview room.
"Your mom told me everything. She just took me to where she said the gun was thrown. You just lied to me," the detective told Perkins on the video.
The defendant then gave his account of the incident, saying Smith was knocking on the door at the family home.
"He was trying to kick the door in, so I went outside. Me and him started fighting. He hit me and kept coming at me," Perkins said on the video.
Perkins said he pulled a pistol from his pants pocket and fired a random shot.
"I didn't even aim (the gun) at him," he said.
The jury is expected to receive the case and begin deliberations sometime Friday.
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