BREVARD COUNTY, Fla. – The lawyers for an ex-Brevard County corrections deputy accused of killing a 72-year-old Titusville woman asked a judge Friday to dismiss a motion seeking the death penalty.
David Armstrong Barber faces charges of kidnapping and first-degree murder in the death of Jessie Kirk, who was reported missing on March 4 under “highly suspicious” circumstances.
In May, the State Attorney’s Office for the 18th Judicial Circuit said it would seek the death penalty because the crime was “especially heinous, atrocious or cruel” and that it was “cold, calculated and premeditated.”
During Friday’s hearing, Barber’s lawyers asked the judge to dismiss prosecutors notice of intent to seek the death penalty.
Assistant public defender Michael Pirolo argued the state attorney’s office should never have released notes it said Barber wrote detailing his plans to kill Kirk. The notes on yellow paper included a to do list like renting a car and buying a costume.
On another page, a timeline was written including the words gag and blindfold.
“They have forever violated Mr. Barber’s right to an impartial jury,” Pirolo said.
Prosecutors told the Judge Kelly McKibben they were fulfilling public records requests, like the one that News 6 made.
“We’re not putting any releases out there, ourselves,” assistant state attorney Kari Kies said. “We are simply responding to public records requests.”
Brevard County community correspondent James Sparvero attended the meeting, where the judge said she would make a written ruling on the matter “as soon as possible.”
Kirk was reported missing by a friend after she didn’t show up for a morning walk.
Barber, a former Brevard County corrections deputy, was originally arrested on charges of loitering and grand theft auto after investigators said they found him lurking near Kirk’s condo with burns on his arms.
According to a probable cause affidavit, police arrived to Kirk’s condo on March 4 and met a friend of hers who let officers into the garage, where they encountered “a strong odor of bleach and cleaning chemicals in the air.”
Police found Kirk’s Lincoln Navigator where her cellphone was last located, but later left after believing she may have been with the friend who lived on that street, according to the affidavit.
Kirk’s friends and family continued to search for her where her vehicle was last seen and they noted that the vehicle was no longer there and that they noticed Barber’s vehicle, a Honda CRV, in the complex.
“This was suspicious because the niece hadn’t been in a relationship with David Barber for approximately a year, and to her knowledge, David Barber does not live or work in the Titusville area,” the affidavit reads.
According to the affidavit, Kirk’s niece told police she had received a text from Kirk’s phone earlier that morning that “implied Kirk was concerned for her safety, and she planned to go into hiding.” She told police this text did not sound the way Kirk writes or speaks and that she believed Barber may have harmed her aunt, the affidavit said.
Barber returned to his vehicle in the complex later that day, where police noticed he had a large burn on his right arm and that part of his shirt had been burned, according to the affidavit. When police asked him about his injuries, he said “he would rather not talk about it” and that “accidents happen.”
Officers were then notified by the Orange County Sheriff’s Office that a Lincoln Navigator was found burned in the woods off State Road 520 and Highway 50 near Christmas in east Orange County. The license plate matched Kirk’s, the affidavit noted.
According to the affidavit, a witness said they saw a man holding his right arm as he was walking along Highway 50 in the area where the burned car was found.
Human remains were later found burned just south of Haulover Canal and Courtenay Parkway and matched Kirk’s description.
During a search of Barber’s vehicle, police said they found evidence that he “planned the death of Kirk, specifically mentioning items needed, routes to take, actions he would need to mask his identity and elude those trying to find him,” according to the probable cause affidavit. Police then found items belonging to Kirk during another search of the vehicle.
“Jessie was a long-time resident of Titusville and North Brevard. She was a kind individual and had a gift to connect to anyone and everyone she met,” Titusville Police Commander Tyler Wright said. “She was known to always be there for anyone and help, regardless of the situation.”
In addition to the murder charge, Titusville police said Barber also faces charges of arson, burglary of an occupied structure, abuse of a dead human body, theft and tampering with evidence.