Attorney: State's key witness a 'lying rapist'

A key witness will testify in front of jurors that he and a few other men broke into a family's Far-Northside home, sexually assaulted a young woman and her mother, threatened them and left with their belongings.

Trae Spells, 19, one of the suspects in the violent home invasion in October 2013, became the state's key witness after he accepted a plea deal with prosecutors last month. He is set to testify within the next two weeks against Adrian Anthony, 21; Demetre Brown, 22; Alexander Dupree, 24; and Michael Pugh, 23, who are on trial for more than 30 felony charges each.

"Trae Spells will tell you that he, along with (the defendants), went to the victims' house," Marion County Deputy Prosecutor Lindsay Gedig told jurors during opening statements Tuesday. "He'll tell you that he, along with (the defendants), sexually assaulted (a young woman)."

Prosecutors allege that a group of men broke into a home in the 800 block of East 79th Street early on Oct. 29, 2013, ransacked the house and took several items, including televisions, electronics, cash, jewelry and three cars. The men also are accused of repeatedly raping a young woman and forcing her and her mother to drive to an ATM to get money. The mother, court records say, was sexually assaulted in a car and was shot in the ankle and in the leg for trying to escape.

Another suspect, Isaiah Hill, is being held in Texas on unrelated charges.

Defense attorneys say the state's key witness is the most culpable one and is not to be trusted. John Tompkins, who represents Brown, called Spells "a lying rapist" who's somehow trying to get away with what he has done.

"Their star witness is the worst one," Benjamin Jaffe, who represents Pugh, told jurors. "He cannot get out of this. So he cuts a deal."

Evidence showed that Spells' semen was in the family's home. Fingerprint and DNA evidence also showed that Dupree, Anthony and Hill were in the house that day. Jaffe said there is no evidence that places his client in the family's home and the only reason Pugh is tied to the case was his association with his co-defendants.

Marion County Deputy Prosecutor Courtney Curtis declined to comment about the statements against Spells.

"I think that by the end of the trial," Curtis said, "the evidence will speak for itself."

In their testimonies Tuesday, the young woman, her mother and her father said they're unable to identify the defendants. They said that during the home invasion, they were repeatedly told to keep their heads down and their eyes closed.

"They're threatening to 'pop' us if we don't cooperate," said the father, who has a medical condition that requires him to wear braces on his legs and ankles and was restrained in the bedroom with a blanket over him throughout the home invasion.

The whole ordeal, he said, felt like "an eternity." At some point, the father said, he heard someone yell, "Whoo whoo!"

"I had no idea that (my daughter) and (my wife) were being raped in the process," he said on the witness stand, his hands clasped together in front of his face.

The young woman said that at one point as she was being raped, she was told to moan.

"I was crying the whole time," she said.

The trial, which began Monday, is expected to last two weeks.

Call Star reporter Kristine Guerra at (317) 444-6209. Follow her on Twitter:@kristine_guerra.