Weather | Sports | Forums | Comics | Classifieds | Calendar | Movies
NEW PORT RICHEY - In court Tuesday, 42-year-old Carmen Davis cried along to her recorded wailing. Soon after she allegedly shot her boyfriend Jonathan Bertram Perkins, Davis asked to hold Detective Jeffrey Bousquet's hand.
In between the wailing and moaning, Davis told Bousquet that she fired the fatal shot into Perkins' heart.
But then a hysterical Davis said she didn't know if she shot Perkins or he shot her. After detectives reminded her that she hadn't been shot, Davis said she would take the blame for killing 40-year-old Perkins.
On the opening day of Davis' manslaughter trial, attorneys played the confession tape out of the jury's earshot as they debated its admissibility.
Pinellas-Pasco Circuit Judge Daniel Diskey allowed the "nearly incoherent" recording, striking the portions pertaining to past abuse.
"All I'm asking for is the truth," Bousquet said on the tape.
"I didn't mean to," Davis replied.
"Did you shoot your boyfriend tonight?" he asked.
"Yes," Davis sobbed.
Davis said she couldn't remember where she got the gun but prosecutors and defense attorneys alike say her landlord Greg Wojtaszczyk owned the .22-caliber revolver.
Davis asked detectives not to jail Wojtaszczyk, whom she called "Daddy" and "Papa." She had known him for three weeks at the time of the shooting.
On the stand, Bousquet said he had Davis taken to the hospital because of the incident's traumatic nature.
Deputy Robert MacFarlane testified that once she got there, Davis said, "I killed my boyfriend."
The defense team presents its case today.