Trial underway for Wichita woman charged in 2017 decapitation murder
An attorney for the Wichita woman accused of decapitating her ex-boyfriend’s mother and leaving the severed head in her kitchen sink told jurors Tuesday that the slaying isn’t a case of “whodunit.”
“There’s no issue (with) who killed Micki Davis,” defense attorney Quentin Pittman said in brief opening statements moments before the evidence portion of 38-year-old Rachael C. Hilyard’s murder trial got underway Tuesday morning.
“When you have all of the evidence, I expect you will render a guilty verdict to my client on the appropriate charge,” Pittman told jurors. But he didn’t elaborate on what that charge might be.
Prosecutors meanwhile are seeking a first-degree premeditated murder conviction in the April 9, 2017, slaying of Davis, a 63-year-old mother and grandmother who took her young grandson to Hilyard’s home at 1426 W. Rita to pick up some of her son’s property the day she was killed. Hilyard, who had been dating the son, called and told Davis she would put the property on the curb if she didn’t go get it.
Sedgwick County Assistant District Attorney Monika Hoyt on Tuesday morning summarized the evidence that she and District Attorney Marc Bennett plan to present to the jury this week. That evidence, she said, will include testimony from the police officers who discovered Davis’s body lying in Hilyard’s garage, a taped law enforcement interview with the 9-year-old grandson of Davis’ who called 911 to report the attack and photos of the gruesome crime scene.
Jurors will also hear from a medical examiner that Davis’ body had no significant injuries except for the cut wounds around her neck and see the suspected murder weapons — a pair of black-handled steak knives — firsthand, Hoyt said.
It was unclear from opening statements what defense Hilyard, who laid her head down and appeared to get emotional at times in court Tuesday, might mount in response. In a jail house interview not long after she was arrested, Hilyard told The Eagle that God was responsible for Davis’ death. She said in the interview that a local church had performed an exorcism to eradicate “evil spirits” at her house in the days before the killing.
Her mental state has also been in question, leading to competency evaluations and treatment at the state psychiatric hospital in Larned in the more than two years since Davis’ death. The Eagle reported in 2017, though, that Hilyard would likely have little success arguing insanity was to blame for her alleged actions because Kansas has one of the nation’s most restrictive laws for citing mental illness as a defense in criminal cases.
Hilyard’s trial is expected to last throughout the week. She remains in custody at the Sedgwick County Jail in lieu of bonds totaling $550,000.
