CHESTERFIELD, Va. (WRIC) – Chesterfield prosecutors can’t bring forward past domestic abuse allegations against Kassceen Weaver – who faces murder charges after his son’s body was found in a freezer in 2021 – when he goes to trial on an unrelated aggravated malicious wounding charge, except under certain conditions.
Weaver is set to go to trial in July on charges of felony murder, felony child neglect and concealing a dead body in the death of his son, Eliel Adon Weaver, whose body was found in a freezer inside the garage of a Chesterfield home in 2021.
While the murder trial is still months away, Weaver is expected to be in court next week on a charge of aggravated malicious wounding in connection to alleged domestic abuse suffered by his estranged wife, Dina Weaver.
Charges against Dina Weaver in her son’s death were dropped by prosecutors.
Attorneys for K. Weaver filed motions to prevent an expert from providing testimony in the domestic abuse case, require prosecutors to narrow down the timeframe of the alleged assault and keep a list of “prior bad acts” that D. Weaver is now accusing K. Weaver of from being used.
On Tuesday, Circuit Court Judge Edward A. Robbins Jr. ruled that prosecutors won’t be allowed to use the list of allegations that span the Weavers’ 25-year relationship during the trial except under certain conditions.
Prosecutors will be allowed to present the allegations in court if K. Weaver’s attorneys cite a specific claim or if they feel it’s necessary for the case.
If that were to happen, Robbins said the jury would be let out of the courtroom and a discussion would take place before any of the allegations would be shared.
The incident at the center of the case – D. Weaver being burned by a curling iron in 2021 – was not disputed by Weaver’s attorneys, the prosecution or the judge. The question, according to Robbins, was who is responsible for the burning.
Chesterfield prosecutors want to have an “expert” to testify during the trial to speak to why victims of domestic violence may support and stay with their abuser, a move that Weaver’s defense challenged as a potential way to “mislead” jurors and “enflame” their passions.
Weaver’s attorneys argued having a domestic violence expert testify during the trial would prejudice the jury against him by aligning Weaver with the actions of domestic abusers without him being found guilty of any crime or alleged abuse.
Judge Robbins said he would take the defense’s motion to stop the expert from speaking “under advisement.”
K. Weaver, his attorneys and the prosecutors in the case declined to comment. K. Weaver’s trial on the aggravated malicious wounding charge is set to start April 25 and last two days, according to online court records.
