Jackson, Mich. (WKHM) — The jury trial in relation to the June 2, 2024, fatal alleged drive-by shooting of 17-year-old Kalil Calunga-Rodriguez that took place on the 400 block of Griswold Street began on Tuesday morning in the courtroom of Judge John McBain.
22-year-old Jayvion Hodge has been charged with Open Murder and Felony Firearm in connection with the incident.
Day 1
During opening statements, Stormie McGee for the prosecution said that evidence from text messages will show that Hodge was driven to Griswold Street with the premeditated intent to kill Calunga-Rodriguez. She said to the jury that she is ultimately hoping to prove Hodge guilty of 1st Degree Murder and Felony Firearm.
Hodge’s defense attorney, Andrew Kirkpatrick, argued that both people had threatened each other’s lives via texts, and that the evidence and testimony will show that it was actually Calunga-Rodriguez who shot first, and that Hodge had acted in self defense.
The jury heard witness testimony from Jasmine Simmons, who was Calunga-Rodriguez’s girlfriend at the time of the shooting. She testified that an altercation at a baby shower at Kiwanis Park happened earlier in the day of the shooting after one of Hodge’s friends showed up uninvited, prompting her to tell Hodge to not come to the house on Griswold Street house via text.
Calunga-Rodriguez was a Lansing resident, but was visiting Simmons in Jackson for the baby shower.
Simmons testified that when they got home after ordering food at a restaurant, she and Calunga-Rodriguez pulled into the back of the driveway before Calunga-Rodriguez exited the car and walked back to the front of the driveway.
That was when she said she heard gunshots before Calunga-Rodriguez went back to her and fell. Simmons says she was able to see the tail end of a vehicle leaving the residence, but did not witness the shooting itself while shielding her child.
During cross examination, the defense argued that what Simmons testified to in terms of being able to see a vehicle was in contrast to initially telling police officers she was unable to see anything related to the shooting.
Multiple officers and detectives from the Jackson Police Department (JPD) testified about the evidence that was gathered on that day, including a security camera video that was played from a neighboring residence in which gunfire could be heard close by off camera.
A camera system was present at the residence where the shooting took place, but the timeframe of the shooting was not captured at that point according to testimony from homeowner Shaquille Gibson. Those cameras had stopped recording just after Calunga-Rodriguez left the car after it pulled into the driveway as was shown in the courtroom.
Another home was observed to have three bullet holes following the shooting, as was testified by Amber Poole who lives in that house.
Further witness testimony and other court proceedings will take place throughout the week.
Day 2
Before the jury was summoned to the courtroom Wednesday morning, Judge McBain reminded the gallery that video recordings were prohibited within the room, are not to be posted anywhere on social media, and that anyone caught recording would be in contempt of court.
The jury heard more witness testimony from various authorities with the JPD, including Lieutenant Pete Postma, who testified that he was involved in reviewing surveillance footage on the seized DVR from the house where the shooting took place.
Lt. Postma said Mr. Gibson told him that the camera system would often produce “glitchy” videos for playback, which Lt. Postma said was consistent with the footage he watched.
Hodge’s defense attorney asked if the DVR was sent to a crime lab to be analyzed for anything that could have been possibly deleted during cross-examination as there was no recording of the shooting on that camera. Lt. Postma said that it was not, and testified that he believed that to be the right decision.
The jury then heard testimony from Detective Michael Galbreath, who was the lead officer in charge of the investigation. He testified that the vehicle seen leaving Griswold Street immediately after the shooting was later found behind a residence on the 800 block of Dettman Road with plastic wrap covering the vehicles windows.
After obtaining a warrant and permission to search the vehicle, officers found an empty box of 9mm ammunition, three fired bullet casings, broken glass, and live 9mm ammunition.
Hodge was found to be in the Dettman Road home, where he willingly agreed to be transported to the JPD to speak with officers. The owner of the vehicle, Kamiyah McLeain, was also later brought in to talk. McLeain was in a dating relationship with Hodge at the time of the shooting.
Location tracking from McLeain’s phone showed it going into the City of Jackson on Griswold Street at the time of the shooting before leaving and ending up at the Dettman Road residence according to Galbreath’s testimony.
Another Detective, Tom Tinklepaugh, testified that items found during a warranted search of the Dettman Road home included a cell phone, broken tinted glass that was in a trash bag, and black cloth tape that held the plastic on McLeain’s vehicle.
The jury also heard testimony from Oakland County Medical Examiner Dr. Patrick Cho, who performed the autopsy on Calunga-Rodriguez. Dr. Cho testified that he confirmed that the injuries he suffered from the gun wounds caused his death.
Day 3
Thursday’s court activity in the case of People v. Jayvion Hodge once again began with Judge McBain speaking about issues with phones being openly present in the courtroom and altercations with alleged threats taking place outside of the room and the building between members of the gallery.
The judge emphasized that phones seen in the courtroom would be confiscated, and anyone involved in altercations in or around the courthouse would be arrested and sent to jail. This took place before the jury was brought in.
A large part of Thursday afternoon’s testimony that the jury heard was centered around text messages that were extracted from phones belonging to Hodge, Calunga-Rodriguez, and Simmons during the testimony of Danielle Vandenheuvel, a Michigan State Police (MSP) digital forensics analyst.
Texts between Hodge and Calunga-Rodriguez showed that both had threatened each other’s lives following the incident at the baby shower. During back and forth messages over text, the victim said “I’m gonna kill you” to Hodge. The defendant responding by saying that Calunga-Rodriguez would not be “making it back to Lansing.” Both individuals told the other to “come outside.”
The same night after the shooting, extractions show that searches were made from Hodge’s phone for “Jackson late night homicide” and questions about if God forgives people for killing others.
The final witness brought to testify was Kamiyah McLeain, who was the driver of the vehicle involved in the shooting and was dating Hodge at the time. She was the one who picked up the defendant (who was in the passenger seat) and his cousin (who was in the back seat).
McLeain testified that she had no knowledge of what the plan was beyond driving to the Griswold Street house where Calunga-Rodriguez was, saying that Hodge was acting normal and did not mention any plans of killing the victim on the way there.
She testified that she believes the grudge between the two parties revolved around the victim’s girlfriend, Jasmine Simmons, and not the altercation at the baby shower. Simmons was previously in a relationship with Hodge according to McLeain’s testimony.
When the vehicle arrived at the Griswold Street home, McLeain said that she heard shots being fired before Hodge told her to duck and began firing back with his gun.
She testified that although she could not see Calunga-Rodriguez during the shooting, she was sure it was him who fired first because she was told that by the defendant and she testified that he fired his gun after she had heard shots at the vehicle.
McLeain said that Hodge told her to tell police that she was not involved in the incident, and that he had driven her car that night. She reportedly took that approach at first, but eventually began to tell law enforcement more of the truth because, according to her, it was not getting her anywhere.
After the shooting, McLeain drove the vehicle to the Dettman Road home. She says that Hodge became quiet and began pacing after hearing the news of the Calunga-Rodriguez’s passing.
While answering questions from the defense attorney, McLeain said that she does not think Hodge would have fired his gun if shots were not fired at the vehicle first. She also testified that Hodge became quiet and began pacing after learning that the victim had passed.
After the jury was released from the courtroom, the defense made a motion for the judge to not allow jury to consider first degree murder as a ruling, which was met with strong opposition from the prosecution. Judge McBain ultimately denied the motion from the defense.
Day 4
Closing arguments from the prosecution and the defense took place on Friday morning. After multiple hours of jury deliberation, the jury found Hodge not guilty of Open Murder and guilty of Felony Firearm. More details on the closing arguments and jury findings can be found by clicking here.
