CHARLOTTE, N.C. — A jury has delivered a verdict in the trial of a man charged with raping and killing his cousin Brittini Ward in 2010.
Derek Ward was charged with killing his cousin in 2010. The trial had been delayed for years because Derek Ward was deemed unfit to stand trial. After 14 years, a judge allowed the trial to begin, with Ward representing himself.
On Wednesday, Aug. 28, 2024, Derek Ward was found guilty of first-degree rape and first-degree murder by a jury of his peers. The Mecklenburg County District Attorney's Office said Ward will now spend the rest of his life in prison.
How we got here
The trial started on Wednesday, Aug. 21. The state laid out tragic details of the case, saying Derek Ward convinced Brittini's family that she was "possessed."
Derek Ward defended himself with statements saying the DNA found on Brittini was not his, and claimed the injuries she sustained were not from rape. The state called multiple witnesses to the stand, including Brittini's brother, Blake, who testified that when he arrived at the house, Brittini Ward was unresponsive.
The DA's office said Derek Ward was staying with Brittini Ward and her family for a few days in their south Charlotte apartment in April 2010. Ward, along with another family member, showed up unannounced and asked to stay. Prior to then, Brittini Ward and her family hadn't met him, but allowed him to stay.
Derek Ward and the relative left, but the DA's office said he returned alone days later and continued to stay. It was during this time he reportedly tried to convince Brittini Ward's family she was possessed by a demon.
May 5, 2010 was Brittini Ward's last day alive. The DA's office said that was when Derek Ward raped and strangled her to death. Family members came home to find Brittini unresponsive, but 911 wasn't called until several hours later. Weeks later, relatives revealed to police that Ward had assaulted Brittini several times during his second stay, even witnessing him choke her.
Carli Ward, Brittini's sister, was also called in to testify. In a tearful testimony, she said she recalled Derek Ward choking her sister three times before she was found dead in the apartment she shared with her mother, Dawn Ward, and her cousin, Derek Ward.
"He put his hands around her throat and started to squeeze and did it three times," she recalled. "And while he was choking her, he was saying he wanted the demons to leave his cousin."
There was a shift with Tuesday’s testimony. Derek Ward had been defending himself throughout the entire trial. That all changed ahead of closing arguments. His public defender, Michael Kabakoff, took over to represent Derek Ward during the closing arguments phase of the trial.
Kabakoff questioned the state’s evidence and statements made by Brittani Ward's mother, Dawn. Kabakoff helped Derek Ward for the remainder of the case, after Derek Ward asked the judge for the public defender's assistance on Monday.