Camia Gamet

Case record: Camia Gamet

Status and sentence

Camia Gamet was sentenced to life in prison without parole on April 16, 2014, for first-degree murder.

Background

Camia Gamet was 31 at sentencing. She was accused of murdering her boyfriend, Marcel Hill, who was 38 when he died. Hill died in May 2012 from stab wounds and blunt force trauma to his head. The case involved a history of domestic violence between Gamet and Hill.

Gamet asserted that she acted in self-defense. At trial, she maintained that she was dealing with an unknown attacker and that much of what she was portrayed as doing was lies.

The offence

Gamet was convicted of first-degree murder for beating and stabbing to death Hill. The judge described the attack as having 12 wounds in total and characterized it as gutting him “like a fish” with repeated stabbing. The judge said Hill was stabbed repeatedly until he was dead, and he said Gamet “gutted him in that apartment like a fish,” while raising his voice.

Family members stated that Hill endured abuse. Diana Banks-Joiner, Hill’s aunt, said in court:

“Remember the cries of help that he scream as you plunged the knife in and out of his body,”

A statement attributed to Banks-Joiner also said:

“The gift you had for him was the gift of death.”

Investigation

Detective Gary Schuette presented evidence to the jury, including pieces from a floor lamp and related items. During Gamet’s trial testimony, she said she reached for a floor lamp after waking to the sound of glass shattering and being hit in the back of her head. Gamet testified that she swung the lamp and hit something at least once, then fell to her knees, reached for her purse, and later went to the kitchen and bathroom seeking light. She testified that she saw Hill’s face and arm and realized who she had attacked, then yelled his name. She said Hill did not respond and she put on clothes, went outside, and called 911.

Prosecutors asked Gamet why she did not immediately run from the apartment if she was fighting off an assailant. Chief Assistant Prosecutor Kati Rezmierski questioned her about her claim that she could not identify her attacker and challenged details of her testimony. Gamet said she needed some light and said she knew she “wasn’t being attacked anymore.” Rezmierski asked how Gamet knew he “wasn’t going to get up again,” and Gamet responded:

“I didn’t know that,”

During an interview, prosecutors played recordings from a Jackson Police Department interview room. In the recording, Gamet screamed:

“Oh God, please, don’t let him be dead,” She was heard screaming as she threw furniture, a table, and two chairs. Prosecutors also played material from the interview room to the jury.

In that interview, Schuette informed Gamet that Hill died. Gamet also accused Schuette of using “psychology” to convince her to speak further. Schuette told Gamet:

“Marcel is there. There is blood everywhere. And he’s dead. You were there beforehand and you had an argument with him…”
and: “You ran away from the scene and you got his blood on you. That’s not psychology. Those are facts.”

A Michigan State Police crime lab found Hill’s blood on items including a bent, broken end table missing its glass top, a piece of a floor lamp post, a frying pan, and a long knife. Hill’s blood was also found on a shirt and pants Gamet wore.

Hours before Hill died, the investigation described a “scuffle” at a bar. The dispute centered on an apartment key. The detective described it as “grabbing and pulling.”

According to testimony referenced during trial, Hill had previously been stabbed in the abdominal area and the wound had been sewed closed with black thread, according to Hill’s aunt. The case included additional allegations that Gamet had been accused of hitting Hill in the head with a hammer earlier, and that case was described as dismissed.

The trial referenced that Gamet was intoxicated, and Schuette testified her blood-alcohol level was 0.18.

Arrest and charges

On March 5, 2014, a jury found Gamet guilty of first-degree murder.

Earlier procedural history described that Gamet was accused and charged with open murder and held without bond prior to trial. District Judge R. Darryl Mazur ordered her held without bond after her arraignment on a charge of open murder for allegedly beating Hill to death.

Less than 10 days before Gamet’s arraignment for open murder, she had been released from the Jackson County Jail because the prosecutor’s office dismissed charges of domestic violence and felonious assault stemming from an incident at a hotel.

Trial

The trial was held before Jackson County Circuit Judge John McBain.

During trial, Gamet testified that she thought Hill was an unknown attacker and said she defended herself. She also testified that she had used a knife earlier to cut holes in curtains and, in the dark, used it to hit the assailant in the chest, possibly three times. She testified that the man fell, she dropped the weapon, and then went to seek light.

Gamet said the kitchen light would not turn on, and she went to the bathroom, turned on the light there, and cracked open the door. She testified that she saw Hill’s face and arm and realized who she had attacked. She said she yelled his name and then put on clothes, went outside, and called 911.

Prosecutors challenged her account, including that she could not explain why Hill had 11 stab wounds if she only recalled hitting him three times, and how a bloody, bent frying pan came to be in the room with the bed. Gamet said she never hit Hill in the head with a hammer, and she denied stabbing him and “stitching him with black thread,” which a relative of Hill testified she had done, responding:

“That is false.”

A report during the trial also described that Gamet said she and a friend returned to the apartment to find Hill and that the friend called 911. She later admitted this was a lie. During testimony, it was described that she did not then tell Schuette about her self-defense claim because her motto is “you don’t talk to the police.” She also said that had she not been drunk, she would not have spoken to him.

The prosecution described weapons and injuries as influencing the jury. Chief Assistant Prosecutor Kati Rezmierski said:

“I think the number of weapons found and the manner of the victim’s injuries played a large role.” Rezmierski also said: “Even though she (Gamet) was intoxicated the jury had enough evidence to believe that she could’ve stopped herself.”

Jackson County Prosecutor Jerard Jarzynka said:

“We are very pleased with this verdict; this took a lot of time out of these jurors' lives,” and: “It’s quite remarkable that the verdict of first degree was given today.” He also said: “That shows that the jurors truly believed that all the evidence pointed to this crime being done with intent.“

An additional trial account described Gamet’s statement during sentencing as reflecting her view that she had been portrayed based on lies and that she was convicted off lies rather than truth.

During sentencing, Gamet interrupted a relative and said:

“Is that it?”

Sentencing

On April 16, 2014, the judge sentenced Gamet to life in prison without parole. Prior to sentencing, Diana Banks-Joiner spoke about abuse her nephew Hill endured at the hands of Gamet. She was allowed to complete her statement after Gamet interrupted.

Jackson County Circuit Judge John McBain threatened to duct tape Gamet’s mouth closed. When addressing the interruption and the sentencing proceedings, McBain said:

“She has a right to talk to the court after you murdered a relative of hers,”

McBain also said:

“You were relentless. You stabbed. You stabbed. You stabbed until he was dead,” and he added: “I hope you die in prison.”

The judge also said:

“You gutted him in that apartment like a fish, you were relentess, you stabbed, you stabbed, you stabbed until he was dead,” and described the attack as having 12 wounds in total.

The sentencing included remarks by Chief Assistant Prosecuting Attorney Kati Rezmierksi. She said:

“We have no choice but to send her where she will also die.” She also said Gamet stood before the court and that she could not believe it.

Gamet and her attorney understood the life sentence without parole was mandatory. Gamet said:

“I understand you have to do what you have to do.” An additional courtroom statement from McBain included: “I agree with the family, I hope you die in prison as well and if this was a death penalty state you'd be getting the chair,”

Appeals and post-trial plans

Gamet planned to appeal the sentencing and the conviction.

Gamet’s attorney said he expected to appeal the outcome.

Other details

Relationship and prior incidents

The trial described that Hill’s relationship with Gamet was rocky, with Gamet describing that Hill had a cocaine problem and sold prescription drugs and that when he drank he became hostile and angry.

Gamet testified that she stayed with Hill because she “thought I could help him.”

Gamet described a time when Hill ripped a shirt off her body and punched her.

Hill also was described as having stopped cooperating with authorities after the earlier hotel incident.

Prior domestic violence allegations and 2007 Ohio proceedings

Gamet testified about domestic violence charges filed against her in 2007 in Ohio. She said she tried to swing a fire extinguisher at a man with whom she had children as he kicked and stomped on her. She said he pleaded guilty or no contest to domestic violence and she said about the allegations involving her baby:

“Those charges were unfounded. They were dismissed,” She said she never tossed her 6-week-old baby during the dispute.

The proceedings referenced that in April 2007 authorities arrested Gamet for domestic violence threats, and she pleaded guilty or no contest to disorderly conduct for threatening to kill a former boyfriend. It also described that in May 2007 she was charged with domestic violence for attempting to assault a boyfriend with a fire extinguisher and throwing her six-week-old baby at him. A man testified from a jail or prison in Ohio and backed Gamet’s statements. The testimony said he was abusive and “pretty much always” the aggressor.

Childhood and mental health history in testimony

Gamet’s testimony included a difficult past. As a child, she was in 13 different facilities or foster homes during a five-year period.

Gamet’s testimony included that she “feels terrible” about Hill and said:

“I did not mean for this to happen.”

Family statements and courtroom behavior

At sentencing, family members described having hopes for justice. Jennifer Johnson said:

“God is good. We all got what we wanted,” and described that they got what they wanted. Barbara Johnson, Hill’s cousin, said: “She’s rude,” and she also said: “She doesn’t care. She showed no remorse.” Jennifer Johnson and others described clapping when McBain announced his sentence.

In addition, outside the courtroom, Banks-Joiner said:

“You saw the true Camia today.” She also said: “That’s her true colors,” and described the set look in Hill’s eyes after he died and his cries for help as she plunged the knife in and out of his body.

Banks-Joiner told the court that abuse can come in all forms, regardless of gender. She said:

“And that they are not less of a man for reporting it and walking away but a better man because they know that love is not being beat, stabbed or hit in the head with hammers.” She also said: “We as a family will take this special gift that you gave Marcel and tell it to other men of all ages, sizes and races that abuse is abuse regardless of what gender,”

Prosecutorial claims about weapons

Chief Assistant Prosecutor Kati Rezmierski contended that Gamet used as many as nine weapons, including a busted floor lamp and a frying pan, in the assault on Hill.