TRIAL UPDATE | Two had motive in KFC shooting, prosecutor says
YOUNGSTOWN — Hattie Gilbert was getting thrown out of her house, and Taran Helms was homeless.
“What does that give you? Motive,” said Kasey Shidel, an assistant Mahoning County prosecutor.
The prosecution and defense are giving closing statements this morning in the case of Gilbert, 20, of East Judson Avenue, and Helms, 23, of West Hylda Avenue.
Both are accused of attempted murder, aggravated robbery, felonious assault and kidnapping in the March 24 shooting that left KFC manager Joseph Kaluza paralyzed.
“They needed the money,” Shidel said.
Atty. John Juhasz, representing Helms, said authorities operated on the idea that the robbery was an inside job — someone had knowledge of how KFC deposits were made.
After other suspects had been ruled out, authorities were led to Helms — whose mother had worked at the South Avenue restaurant. But detectives acknowledged that his mother wasn’t charged and there was no evidence she was involved in the crime.
“What the state has here, folks, is not evidence. It’s a theory, Juhasz said.