Trial against Derek Ward continues | August 22, 2024

CHARLOTTE, N.C. — Editor's Note: This story deals with sexual assault and domestic violence. It may contain descriptions of violent acts. Readers should exercise discretion.

The trial of Derek Ward continued in a Mecklenburg County courtroom on Thursday and Friday and included more emotional moments with the family of Brittini Ward, the cousin the defendant is accused of raping and killing in 2010.

Derek Ward had previously been declared incompetent to stand trial, delaying the trial, but recently decided to defend himself after a judge allowed the trial to begin earlier this week. Brittini Ward's mother, Dawn Ward, had previously pleaded guilty to charges related to her daughter's death. She was also accused of having an incestuous relationship with Derek, her nephew.

Thursday's hearings began with prosecutors calling Dawn Ward, now 62 and now using the surname Whuller, to the witness stand. Whuller was shown a family photo and began to cry. She told the court she was doing normal family activities with her five children and her then-husband. They were Jehovah's Witnesses and Whuller said she was still one herself.

Whuller cried even more when prosecutors showed her a May 2010 photo of Brittini Ward's room, which showed a bucket of water and a blood-stained bed cover. She also acknowledged that her daughter had been diagnosed with schizophrenia at the end of her high school years, but the family admittedly had a hard time dealing with it.

Whuller also confirmed that she and Derek Ward had sex, but that she was afraid of him and that the family would be in trouble if they didn't do what he asked. Derek, Brittini and Whuller shared an apartment with Whuller's four other children. She also said that she and Derek Ward had sex both before and after Brittini Ward's death.

The night Brittini was killed, Whuller said she came home and asked Derek if Brittini was sleeping. Derek told her Brittini “had a problem and the demons had her,” referring to her diagnosed schizophrenia. Whuller said she believed him.

“Very strange things were happening in my house,” she said, mentioning that the lights in the apartment would sometimes flicker.

Whuller said she saw Brittini in bed, surrounded by blood and purple, her body cold. She was convinced the “demon” had gotten her, but that she and Derek Ward could bring Brittini back by washing her with warm water.

“I never thought about calling 911,” she said. Instead, she asked her elders for help. She also said that Derek Ward also tried to help.

Prosecutors asked Whuller if her other children were worried about Derek Ward, and she said they were. She also said her son Blake Ward met her and Derek at a Waffle House before Brittini's death, but the conversation did not go well. Blake left disappointed.

Whuller also said that her other children left the home in late May 2010 and went to live with their parents in Columbia, South Carolina. She said her parents told her that it was not good to have Derek in the house. At one point, Derek also forced himself on her sexually, saying it was a ritual.

Thursday's hearing ended late in the afternoon. The trial continued on Friday, this time with Derek Ward representing his own case.

The prosecution called Roy Patterson to the stand. He is an investigator who collected two cell phones as evidence as part of the investigation. One phone was a BlackBerry that belonged to Ward, while the other was a slider phone that he said contained text messages that were deleted at some point. However, Derek Ward questioned this.

“I have to object to these additional photos as evidence,” he said. “That doesn't seem quite right to me. I think according to the protocol [Patterson] said himself that the series [number] is not present in these evidence photos.”

Ward also claimed that his BlackBerry was black, while the photos presented as evidence appeared to be blue.

The presiding judge also had to intervene several times on Friday; Ward often made comments instead of asking questions.

The trial is scheduled to continue on Monday, August 26.

If you or a loved one is a victim of domestic violence, help is readily available. You can call the National Domestic Violence Hotline at 800-799-7233 or text START to 88788. Help is available in both North Carolina and South Carolina.

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