Defendant takes the stand in Kaufman murder trial
Charged with first degree murder in the fatal December 2020 shooting of Butler County native Caitlyn Kaufman, Devaunte Hill took the stand Saturday, Jan. 28, in day six of the ongoing trial.
Hill, 23, and James Cowan, 29, both of Tennessee, are both charged in the death of the 26-year-old Nashville nurse. Kaufman was shot to death on her way to work Dec. 3 after allegedly cutting Hill and Cowan off on Interstate 440.
“I just remember picking up the gun and shooting,” Hill said. “I can’t tell you how many times I shot, I can’t tell you if I seen the woman. I just acted recklessly.”
According to Hill, Cowan drove the Cadillac SUV involved in the incident. Hill brought a Springfield Xd9 9mm handgun with him for the trip. He said he kept the loaded handgun on his lap after entering the car.
Hill said that he did not recognize the danger the handgun posed at the time of the shooting and only realized afterward that he had endangered someone’s life.
Assistant district attorney Jan Norman said that Hill was well aware of the danger the handgun posed. She presented Hill’s 2017 aggravated assault, in which he shot and injured his grandmother and two other children, ages 12 and 6, as evidence of this.
Norman also pressed Hill on Cowan’s involvement in the murder and their affiliation as members of the 98 mafia crips gang.
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