Guilty on all counts

The Kaluza Verdict

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Trial against Hattie Gilbert and Taran Helms

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Suspects found guilty in the March 24 robbery and shooting of KFC manager Joseph Kaluza

By Denise Dick

Helms and Gilbert face up to 50 years for Kaluza assault

YOUNGSTOWN — Joseph Kaluza and members of his family say that Hattie Gilbert and Taran Helms got what they deserved.

“It’s a great day,” Kaluza said.

After less than four hours of deliberation, jurors found Helms, 23, guilty of attempted murder, felonious assault, aggravated robbery and kidnapping — all with firearm specifications. Gilbert, 20, was found guilty of complicity to all of those charges.

Kaluza was shot in the neck and paralyzed during the March 24 crimes for the $300 bank deposit from the South Avenue KFC restaurant that he managed.

Sentencing is set for Tuesday before Judge Timothy E. Franken of Mahoning County Common Pleas Court. They could face up to 50 years behind bars.

Helms and Gilbert showed no emotion as Mahoning County deputy sheriffs handcuffed them, leading them from the courtroom Thursday afternoon.

Kaluza, seated in his motorized wheelchair, nodded silently to his family and supporters after Judge Franken read the verdicts from the jury of six men and six women.

After the shooting, several fundraisers were conducted throughout the community to raise money for the family.

Kaluza said he was “amazed” and “speechless” by the outpouring. He’s unsure why his tragedy resonated with so many people, but his sister, Anna Fitzgerald has a theory.

“Because he’s a normal person,” she said. “It’s like Joe said when he first got home, he’s not famous. He’s just a regular guy, a businessman who goes to work.”

People could relate to what happened, Fitzgerald said.

While awaiting the verdict, Kaluza and family members were in one of the downtown buildings and people were shouting, “God bless you, Joe,” she said.

Fitzgerald thanked city detective Sgt. John Kelty and Youngstown police for their work on her brother’s case.

“I can’t say thank you enough,” she said.

Esther Kaluza, Joe’s mother, also is grateful for all of the help from the community, friends and family, including Joe’s uncle, John Kaluza.

Fitzgerald said she has nothing to say to Helms and Gilbert.

“Like Joe said, ‘They got what they deserve,’” she said. “I hope they think about what they did every day in their cells. How could they think they could get away with something so senseless — a crime like that for $300?”

In closing statements, Kasey Shidel, an assistant Mahoning County prosecutor, said the motive was money.

Gilbert, of East Judson Avenue, was getting evicted and Helms was homeless, Shidel said.

“What does that give you? Motive,” the assistant prosecutor said.

Gilbert was accused of staking out the South Avenue restaurant to learn the routine of how Kaluza made deposits. Then, on March 24, she staged an accident on South. When Kaluza stopped the car, Helms shot him, moved the car to a side street, robbed him and fled, according to authorities.

Testimony began Monday with Kaluza the first to take the stand.

The whoosh and whir of the device that helps Kaluza breathe provided a constant backdrop to court proceedings from where the father of two children with learning disabilities sat in the rear of the courtroom.

Police, using a dog, found the coat, gun, mask and hat used in the crime near where the shooting happened. A DNA analyst testified earlier this week that Kaluza’s blood was found on the coat and that DNA found on the gun, coat, mask and hat was linked to Helms.

Helms, whose mother had previously worked at the restaurant, had inside knowledge that Kaluza made deposits, Shidel said.

Gilbert also confessed planning the robbery, staking out Kaluza, watching his procedure for making the deposits, he said.

Helms didn’t offer an alibi to police that checked out, Shidel said. Initially, he said he was with a woman he called “T,” but didn’t know her last name or where she lived.

Then he denied knowledge of his mother working at KFC, but witnesses testified that he visited his mother there. He then said that he got a ride from a man but that didn’t check out either.

Atty. John B. Juhasz, who represents Helms, said that DNA found on the coat and clothing could have been there because Helms had previously touched them.

Also the DNA of someone other than Helms and Kaluza was found on the coat, Juhasz said, referring to the DNA analyst’s testimony.

Atty. Martin Yavorcik, who represents Gilbert, said his client admitted the robbery but she wasn’t involved with any of the other crimes.

“She committed a robbery — she did — shame on her,” he said.

Gilbert didn’t intend, however, for Kaluza to get shot and she didn’t push his car from South Avenue onto a side street, Yavorcik said.

Most of the prosecution’s witnesses didn’t even mention his client, he said.