Brawl on Homan Avenue: Kelly's story

 Posted on August 28, 2013 in Assault and Battery

This week we are covering an aggravated battery case that arose out of a fight on South Homan Avenue in Chicago. The fight involved a man named Ken and his girlfriend Tara who got into an argument with a neighbor named Gary one July evening.

The evidence indicates that Tara was punched in the face while talking to a woman who hanging out with Gary. Tara and Ken say that the punch was the culmination of Gary's hostile behavior throughout the evening.

The woman that Tara was talking to was named Kelly, and she had a drastically different version of events that night.

Kelly testified that she was over at Gary's house for a barbeque and that she had nothing to drink that evening.

Kelly says that Gary and another man were sitting on the porch when they saw Gary's neighbor Ken pull up to the drive way.

Contrary to Ken's testimony that he was not drunk, Kelly said that Ken "missed the driveway," ran over the curb and onto the grass. Kelly said that Ken and Tara then fell out of the car and had to lean on each other to make it to the house.

Kelly testified that Gary was not yelling profanities at his neighbors, but that he said something to the effect of, "I haven't seen you in forever! Aren't you going to say hi to me?"

In response, Kelly said that Ken and Tara stood on their porch screaming profanity at them. Tara allegedly made negative comments about Kelly's weight and apparently mistook her for Gary's wife.

Kelly testified that Gary asked Ken to take Tara inside because she was causing a scene and the neighbors were beginning to look out the windows.

Kelly testified that Ken then came up to the fence and began screaming at Gary with Tara. Ken allegedly took a swing at Gary, which he was able to duck. As Gary returned the punch, Ken allegedly grabbed Tara with both hands and pulled her in front of him, using her as a shield and causing her to get the "blunt of the blow."

In our next post, we will discuss the court's analysis of the evidence in this violent crime case.

Source: People v. Daniel, 2013 IL App (1st) 121120-U Aug. 14, 2013