By Jeremy D. Wells
Carter County Times
On the evening of October 6, 2023, Carter County E911 received a call from a neighbor of Tristan Mitchell. Mitchell’s girlfriend was at the home of the neighbor, named Brooke, and alleging assault by her boyfriend. According to the story that would emerge the victim and her child had come to Olive Hill to spend the evening and have dinner with Mitchell. She claimed that Mitchell first accused her of cheating before smashing her new iPhone, because he didn’t have access to it, hitting her, and then forcing her to perform sex acts on him under threat of death.
The defense, on the other hand, claimed that Mitchell was the victim of assault, because of his own infidelities, and that the rest of the story was a concoction from the victim dreamed up to punish Mitchell.
Brooke testified, during the first day of witness testimony in the jury trial on December 11, that before she contacted 911 Mitchell’s girlfriend had first run to the home of another neighbor, an elderly gentleman identified as Jimmy. Jimmy, according to her testimony, contacted Brooke who came and collected the distraught woman, took her to her home, and called 911 on her behalf.
During that call Brooke told the operator that she was unclear on the nature of the incident, and that she was having a hard time getting answers out of the victim, but she indicated that there seemed to have been an altercation, and that Mitchell had the victim’s one-year-old daughter. Because of the difficulty in getting information out of the victim, the 911 operator asked Brooke if the victim was in an altered state, to which Brooke replied, “you could say that.”
According to the opening statements of Tristan Mitchell’s attorney, Michael Curtis, this was an indication that the victim may have been inebriated. His argument was that the victim was under the influence, that she had a previous altercation with another girlfriend of Mitchell’s, and that the accusation of assault from the victim was a matter of “the fury of a woman jilted.”
Brooke, however, said there was no indication that the victim seemed inebriated to her. She testified that when she responded that way to the 911 operator – a statement she didn’t remember making but didn’t contest was reflected in the call – she meant only that the victim was traumatized and hysterical.
Her assertion was later backed up by testimony from Carter County EMS paramedic Kyle Wilburn, who testified that no drugs or alcohol were found in the victim’s system. Wilburn also testified to the nature and extent of the victim’s injuries, as well as bruises later found on her child after police were able to reunite the child with her mother. While Wilburn said under questioning that he observed multiple injuries before beginning his assessment, he was able to examine them more closely once she was inside the ambulance. He testified that those injuries included “swelling and discoloration around both eyes, (and) bruising around the forehead,” as well as abrasions on her legs, torso, and back, bruising that resembled a handprint around her back under her armpit, an abrasion that had bled but was no longer bleeding on her ankle, a hematoma on her leg, and swelling on the forehead that radiated behind the ear – which Curtis characterized as a “pump knot.” Wilburn also testified to bruising found on the child, and the nature of bruises, explaining that fresh bruises appear as red or lighter spots, before turning dark and then yellowing as they heal. He also noted that the more traumatic the injury, the more quickly a bruise will darken. The nature of the bruises on the victim, based on his testimony, appeared to indicate they were not old bruises, but were recent.
Wilburn also testified that the victim had at least one broken nail, as shown in photos taken by police officers inside the ambulance after Wilburn’s initial examination. But, when questioned about the victim’s facial piercings, which Curtis seemed to indicate would have displayed more bruising or been torn out if the attack was as violent as the victim described, Wilburn said that he didn’t notice any indication that there was damage to the piercings. Curtis also questioned claims from the victim that she had been “dragged around” by her hair, but Wilburn said he couldn’t testify to any damage to the victim’s scalp based on his examination of her. He said that, from the photos provided, he could only say the victim’s hair appeared “messy.” He also said that while the victim initially refused transport to the hospital, she acquiesced on prompting from first responders. He noted it wasn’t an uncommon response for victims of accidents or traumatic events, who don’t necessarily feel the full extent of their injuries right away because of adrenaline.
During her testimony the victim discussed how she met Mitchell on a dating app, and how he appeared “picture perfect” at first, before things started going downhill. She moved in with Mitchell after dating for a month, at his insistence. She said they had the sort of normal spats that every couple has, but that the conflicts quickly “escalated.” She testified that Mitchell was jealous of the men who came into her place of employment, and communicated that to her. Her testimony of their early difficulties, however, drew an objection from the defense and an admonition to the jury to disregard any testimony about previous altercations, and to focus only on the incident of October 6.
After the judge’s instructions to the jury, the victim continued with her testimony.
The victim testified that she had already moved out of Mitchell’s home before the October 6 incident, because of the escalating tension, and that her father bought her a new phone because Mitchell turned off the service on the phone that was on his plan. She further testified that Mitchell had broken a previous phone, and insisted she get the phone on his plan, because he wanted the ability to monitor her phone calls.
When Mitchell tried to reconcile, she said, she “essentially played nice,” because she wanted to collect the rest of her belongings from his home, not because she was sincerely interested in reconciliation. So, she testified, on the evening of October 6 she showed up in Olive Hill, picked up pizza from Tyler’s Pizza at Mitchell’s direction, and went to his home.
That was where testimony ended on the first day of the trial.
On the second day of testimony the victim testified to the events leading up to the assault, including Mitchell purposely parking his vehicle in a way that blocked her vehicle from leaving once they arrived at his home. After eating she said he asked for her phone, and asked for the passcode, which she said she entered for him before he snatched it back from her. She testified that she wasn’t allowed to have a passcode on the phone he bought for her, and they had a brief back and forth where he demanded the passcode, and the victim insisted she be allowed to enter it. It was after taking the phone back from her, she testified, that things escalated quickly and Mitchell began smacking her. He accused her of talking to other men, she said, before throwing her phone against the brick wall, and then into the yard, before continuing to assault her. She said her daughter was crying for her, and that Mitchell, who had been pulling her around by her hair, then began to strangle her and said to her, “You’re not such a bad bitch when you’re about to die.” She claimed he stopped to catch his breath, then stood up and began to pull her around by her hair once again. The abuse continued, she said, until he allowed her to stand up, at which point her daughter ran to her. Mitchell then ordered her to put her daughter down, she said, telling her she “had about five seconds to put her down before I beat your skull in.” She said he continued to “smack her,” before forcing her upstairs and sexually assaulting her. Following the assault, she said she tried to escape with her daughter while Mitchell was distracted. But as she attempted to flee, she said, Mitchell – still fully nude – followed her outside and began dragging her back to the house by her hair once again. It was at this point he pulled her daughter from her arms and, according to the victim, told her if she came back that he would allow them to leave. But, she told the prosecutor, she didn’t believe him. Instead of risking injury to her child, she said she ran to the nearest trailer, which was unlocked, and ran inside, locking the door behind her and begging the occupant, Jimmy, to help her.
“I probably scared that old man to death,” she said.
It was at that point Jimmy called Brooke and she and her boyfriend came to help the victim, contacting 911 as Brooke testified the previous day. During that call to 911, the victim told the jury she sat on the couch hoping that her daughter was alright, and that help would arrive soon.
After police arrived, she said, they retrieved her daughter and both she and her daughter were examined by the paramedic. She testified that she could feel her face beginning to swell, and said her daughter was traumatized and just wanted to sit in her lap. She also testified that she was initially resistant to seeking treatment because of embarrassment, but then decided to follow first responder recommendations to be transported to the hospital.
On the third day Deputy Bobby Hall, with the Carter County Sheriff’s Office, also testified to what the police witnessed at the scene, including broken fingernails and clumps of hair found around the house, which police photographed.
After deliberation amongst the judge, the Commonwealth, and defense on the nature of the charges, and which charges to dismiss or to amend, and instructions from the judge to the jury, they returned their verdicts.
On count seven of the indictment, tampering with physical evidence, the jury returned a verdict of three years. They returned a verdict of sixteen years on count eight, a charge of kidnapping, one year on count ten, a charge of first degree criminal mischief, and five years on count eleven, a charge of second degree criminal abuse. With regard to the concurrent/consecutive recommendation, the jury recommended the sentences for counts seven, eight, ten and eleven be served consecutively, one after the other.
During final sentencing Judge Rebecca Phillips noted that the jury returned verdicts of not guilty on counts three, four, six, and nine, and that the Commonwealth moved to dismiss count five. She also noted that she would follow the recommendations of the jury, and that there was a waiver of jury sentencing on the misdemeanor charges. She also found that “under count one, pursuant to the verdict of the jury, that you are guilty of fourth degree assault” sentencing him to twelve months. She sentenced him to another twelve months on count two, second degree wanton endangerment. Those charges will run consecutively with the 25 years recommended by the jury.
Mitchell was found not guilty on charges related to the sexual assault due to the nature of the incident, and he will not have to register as a sex offender.
Mitchell does have to register, however, under a new Kentucky law related to registration for kidnapping offenses when the victim is a minor and the perpetrator is not a parent of the child, as specified in KRS 17.520. The nature of Mitchell’s offense will require lifetime registration under that statute.
(The Carter County Times has a policy of not identifying victims of violent crime except under exceptional circumstances. Likewise, we have chosen to identify some witnesses by first name only, out of respect for their privacy. The full names of the victim and all witnesses are a part of the public record, and they were identified fully in the courtroom.)
Contact the writer at editor@cartercountytimes.com
