PORTSMOUTH— The case of State of Ohio v. Terry Jewell on the charges of murder, felonious assault, and having a weapon under disability has gone to the jury. The nine women, three men, and one female alternate will deliberate on whether Jewell is guilty of murder in the February 2022 shooting death of Rodney Queen at Queen’s Straight Fork farm.
The defense rested in the case Aug. 29 without calling a single witness and after requesting a motion for dismissal. Judge Mark Kuhn denied that motion.
Day 2 of the trial saw more law enforcement witnesses for the prosecution, including Detectives Adam Giles and Kirk Jackson of the Scioto County Sheriff’s Office. The state rested its case after hearing from Dr. Sean Adam Swiatkowski, chief deputy coroner for the Montgomery County Coroner’s Office.
Swiatkowski testified that he performed Queen’s autopsy. Photos of Queen’s gunshot wound were displayed in the courtroom, where several of Queen’s family members sat in the gallery. Swiatkowski testified there are different types of gunshot wounds. He concluded due to the absence of soot, burns, or gun barrel lacerations or burns to the head that Queen could not have shot himself.
Swiatkowski said he had also seen several Russian roulette cases in his time as a coroner and Queen’s wounds were not similar. The defense has mentioned the possibility of Queen playing Russian roulette, wherein a person loads a single bullet into a revolver, spins the barrel, and pulls the trigger at the side of their head. Queen’s entry wound was at the upper right hairline and the exit a few inches above the ear at a downward angle.
“I have encountered it in my autopsies,” Swiatkowski said about Russian roulette. Evans then asked if Queen’s injuries were like those found in Russian roulette cases. “It’s not one I’ve seen in my career, no. You’re going to see the searing, the soot.”
He said there was no gunpowder stipling or burns on Queen, which would have been expected given the type of gun used, which was a .38 snubnose Smith & Wesson. Swiatkowski recovered two bullet fragments from Queen’s skull, and testified he believed one bullet broke apart into three pieces. Two remained in the skull and one created the exit wound. They created “significant subdural and subarachnoid damage.”
“When you fire a gun, not all of the gunfire burns,” Swiatkowski said. “We just know it’s far enough away none of that stuff hits the skin.”
Asked directly by lead prosecutor Scott Evans whether Queen could have shot himself, as suggested by the defense, the coroner said: “I do not believe so, no.”
