Donthe Lucas homicide trial begins in Pueblo, Colorado
Feb 3, 2021
It’s been just shy of eight years since pregnant, 21-year-old Kelsie Schelling disappeared in Pueblo after driving from her home in Denver to visit her boyfriend and purported father of her unborn child, Donthe Lucas.
Members of Schelling’s family made a similar drive down Interstate 25 to see Lucas Wednesday as he stood trial for Schelling’s murder.
Schelling’s mother, Laura Saxton, has awaited this day for years — she’s long alleged that Lucas was either involved in or responsible for her daughter’s disappearance. She and Schelling’s father, Doug Schelling, even filed a wrongful death lawsuit against Lucas and members of his family in 2016 that was later dismissed.
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Deputy District Attorney Michelle Chostner — in an opening statement of which large portions were indiscernible due to poor audio quality on the broadcast made available to media in an overflow room of the courthouse — laid out Lucas’ actions in the days before and after Schelling’s disappearance.
Chostner referenced several text messages from Lucas to Schelling leading up to her trip to Pueblo and outlined details of a tumultuous relationship in which Lucas and Schelling constantly fought, with fights escalating over time.
Citing the text exchanges between Lucas and Schelling, Chostner described Lucas’ efforts to convince Schelling to come to Pueblo both on the day before and day of her disappearance.
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Chostner read text messages from Lucas to Schelling, some of which referenced a “surprise” Lucas was anxious to show her.
When Schelling asked about the surprise, Chostner said Lucas replied, “Just wait and see for yourself. You probably wouldn’t believe me If I told you.”
After 24 hours of convincing, on Feb. 5, the day Schelling visited an Aurora doctor for her first prenatal visit and received her 8-week ultrasound, Schelling relented, Chostner said, and came to Pueblo.
“In that moment, she had no idea what would happen,” Chostner said.
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Schelling’s phone, Chostner said, then went silent. But after 2:40 a.m., a call was made to a romantic interest of Lucas’ whom Schelling did not know. Chostner called it a "critical" piece of evidence.
“But it's Kelsie’s phone that calls her, not Donthe’s,” Chostner said, citing cellphone records.
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For the defense’s opening remarks, Lucas’ attorney Karl Tameler painted a picture of a broken-hearted family desperately searching for answers about their daughter’s disappearance and putting pressure on law enforcement agencies to make a case where none existed.
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Tameler called the prosecution’s homicide charge against Lucas “the biggest reach in Pueblo history.”
“You’ve just heard a story,” Tamler told the jury.
“But the story the DA is presenting to you is a fiction they have created … of things they have found over the course of eight years. Random pieces of information that do not add up.”
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Tameler also sought to dispel Lucas’ aspirations of playing NBA basketball — he was a standout player at Pueblo Central High School and played basketball at Northeastern Junior College, where he and Schelling met — as a possible motive for the murder.
“His career in basketball is long over by this time,” Tameler said.
“He’s flunked out of the college, is sitting at home, might play the occasion 4-on-4 matchup down at the slabs with his homeboys.
