CHARLESTON, W.Va. — A 12-member jury will resume deliberations Friday in a Kanawha County double murder trial.
The panel got the case against Markus Guy Thursday afternoon following closing arguments.
Guy, 32, shot and killed Alisha Carnefix, 39, and Koda Jarrett, 14, at their St. Albans home on Feb. 6, 2024. Carnefix and Jarrett are the mother and brother of Shelby Frazier, Guy’s girlfriend at the time of the incident.
Guy testified Wednesday the shootings were in self-defense.
Kanawha County Assistant Prosecutor Madison Tuck said during her closing arguments on Thursday that Guy’s actions check all of the boxes of being guilty of murder.
“The defendant took every single action in this case willfully,” Tuck said. “There’s also the element of feloniously, this is a murder case, the defendant killed two people, murder is a felony in West Virginia, and intentionally, there is no denying the fact that the defendant killed Alisha Carnefix intentionally, he took her life on purpose.”
Guy claimed Carnefix had jumped on his back and attempted to strangle him with an object until he was starting to lose consciousness before claiming to have pulled out a gun from a cross-body satchel, firing at her.
After shooting and killing Carnefix, Guy said Jarrett came into the room and attempted to take his gun away from him, ensuing another struggle.
Guy testified Wednesday that he feared Jarrett would attempt to avenge his mother, so Guy shot Jarrett as well.
A medical examiner and forensic experts took the stand Wednesday and presented scientific evidence they had collected during the investigation.
Chief Medical Examiner Dr. Can Savasman, who performed autopsies on both Carnefix and Jarrett, said evidence shows that Guy did not shoot her within a close range, which is not corroborative to the testimony Guy has given that claims Carnefix was right behind her when he shot her.
Detective Brian Middleton with the Kanawha County Sheriff’s Office said that it would have been impossible for the injuries present on Carnefix’s body to be a result of someone who had shot over their shoulder at someone significantly taller than them like she was.
Middleton had also said that the only defensive wounds found on Guy from the photographs was a faint red mark on his neck, which would have been more significant in someone who had been nearly choked to death.
Tuck said Guy couldn’t even say what Carnefix had used to choke him with.
She said there was simply no indication of struggle from the victims whatsoever.
“People lie, science doesn’t,” Tuck said. “The story that the defendant Markus Guy got up here and demonstrated for you is impossible.”
In addition, DNA testing showed the blood on Guy’s clothing and shoes matched Carnefix’s, but Carnefix’s fingernails did not trace any of Guy’s DNA, corroborating with the notion that there was no struggle.
However, one of Guy’s defense attorneys Mark Plants said there’s still a question of whether it was an act of self-defense.
Specifically, regarding the positioning of the blood spatter created on the wall when Guy shot Jarrett, Plants said the science doesn’t show the exact location of the hit after the shots were fired.
“There’s no analysis of the vertical blood drops, down here, these blood drops that dropped down due to gravity, we don’t have any analysis of them, they’re ignored,” Plants said. “Had he been shot one inch away from the wall, I suggest there would be more blood and particles on this wall.”
He some of the evidence is inconsistent.
Plants said Guy did not plan out the murders, he just simply thought Carnefix was going to kill him, so he panicked.
“The room was getting dark, he felt light-headed like he was getting unconscious or about to be rendered unconscious, he shoots before passing out over his left shoulder,” said Plants. “Markus couldn’t see where she was or the position her body, her the height of her head or body at the time of the shooting before the impact.”
The other prosecuting attorney in the trial representing the state, Ken Bannon said it still remains simple, it was murder through and through.
“The fine point is either you believe the science or you believe the defendant,” Bannon said.