Donthe Lucas’ mother and grandmother take the stand
PUEBLO, Colo. (KRDO) -- Two pivotal witnesses took the stand Friday afternoon in the Donthe Lucas trial - the Pueblo man accused of killing his pregnant girlfriend in 2013. Prosecutors called Lucas' mother and 94-year old grandmother to testify.
Sara Lucas, Donthe's mother, says she remembers seeing Schelling's car near her mother's home on Manor Ridge Drive the morning of February 5, 2013. However, she told the jury she never saw Kelsie.
Kelsie Schelling disappeared after driving down from Denver to Pueblo on February 4th, 2013. She drove down to see her boyfriend, Donthe Lucas.
Sara Lucas says she only met her son's girlfriend once, a few months prior to her disappearance. She was also aware Kelsie was pregnant and was upset because she didn't believe the couple was in a position to take care of a child.
However, when a defense attorney asked Sara Lucas if she would have welcomed another grandchild she said, "Very much so."
As for Donthe's grandmother, Vivian Lucas, prosecutors played an audio recording between herself and Denver police from February 11th, 2013.
That recording revealed the grandmother told officers Donthe was in her garage around 4 a.m. on February 5th 2013 - mere hours after Kelsie drove down from Denver to see him. Lucas apparently told his grandmother he was looking for something while in the garage in those early morning hours.
Earlier on Friday, former Pueblo Police Detective Neil Robinson, the former lead detective on the Kelsie Schelling case, went through a number of Donthe Lucas' text messages.
According to the texts, Lucas told Schelling's mother, Laura Saxton, that he spoke with Kelsie on February 9th, 2013. At this point, Saxton and the rest of Kelsie's family were considering contacting authorities and filing a missing person report because they couldn't get in contact with her.
Lucas texted Saxton that Schelling's phone was broken, and she was on her way to California to be with her ex-boyfriend, Christopher Raybon. Raybon was called to the stand and told the jury he was no longer romantically involved with Kelsie by 2013.
According to phone records, Kelsie's phone was shut off two days prior on February 7th.
While Saxton and Kelsie's family were concerned over her safety, Donthe Lucas never told Kelsie's mom where he left her car (St. Mary Corwin parking lot), or that he had used Kelsie’s bank card to take out $400.
According to the defense, text messages show Lucas as a caring friend.
Texting Kelsie dozens of times asking her to call her family, and telling her they all care about her.
However, text messages from Donthe Lucas' phone also show he was texting several women days after Kelsie's disappearance.
The defense went on to insinuate that the investigation conducted by Detective Robinson was flawed in a number of ways.
For instance, police took Lucas’s phone on February 15th, 2013, and never asked for access to the phone until 2017. Detective Robinson admitted to the court this was a mistake.
