Attorneys for a man accused of stabbing his pregnant girlfriend to death in 2021 in her Spotsylvania County home are seeking to have statements he made to police thrown out.
Chris Lee-Thompson Stevens of Spotsylvania, who will turn 30 later this month, is charged with first-degree murder and multiple other offenses stemming from the Nov. 28, 2021, slaying of 33-year-old Jordan Diggins at her home on Taney Drive. Diggins, who had already obtained a protective order against Stevens, was stabbed at least 20 times.
Stevens was in Spotsylvania Circuit Court on Friday afternoon for a hearing on multiple pretrial motions in front of Judge William Glover. One of those motions involved statements made to police following his arrest the day of the slaying, including a claim that he acted in self-defense after being attacked.
Defense attorneys Lauren Whitley and David Rouzzo argued that police violated Stevens’ rights by questioning him after he had in effect requested an attorney. Rouzzo cited taped statements such as “I left [the victim’s home] because I wanted to get a lawyer first” and “what if I invoke [his right to an attorney]?” Detective Earle Swift responded to the question by answering “then we stop” before later reading Stevens his Miranda rights.
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The defense claims that Stevens’ statements, made during the course of a discussion about a number of issues, were akin to a request for a lawyer. Swift testified that he didn’t understand it that way, and prosecutor Jeff Adams pointed out that Stevens agreed to talk after being read his rights.
Glover took the motion under advisement and said he will issue a written response at a later date.
According to evidence presented at an earlier hearing, deputies went to Diggins’ home on Nov. 26, 2021, in response to an alleged protective order violation by Stevens. He was gone when deputies arrived, but was reached by phone and promised to turn himself in a few days later after enjoying the weekend.
Two days later, Diggins’ 8-year-old son called a woman and told her that Stevens was at the home yelling at his mother. The woman called police, who went to the home and found Diggins dead in an upstairs bedroom. Stevens and her two young children were gone.
Detective Tony Horn spotted Stevens and the children later that day near Courthouse Elementary School. The children were wet and muddy but unharmed. Stevens took off, but was arrested about 40 minutes later after he was seen coming out of the woods on Leavells Road and getting into a vehicle, according to testimony.
A three-day trial for Stevens is scheduled to start March 13.
Keith Epps: 540/374-5404
kepps@freelancestar.com
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