SAN DIEGO — A Solana Beach woman charged with murdering her stepfather took the witness stand Thursday, testifying in her own defense.
Prosecutors allege Jade Janks, 39, killed her stepfather by giving him pills and suffocating him, after finding naked photos of herself on his computer.
On the stand, Janks testified she had a loving relationship with her stepfather, Tom Merriman, when she was in her twenties.
They eventually drifted part, Janks said, but then in 2020 she moved in next door to him on Nardo Avenue in Solana Beach.
“I have always been the caretaker for Mr. Merriman, anytime something would go wrong. If he hurt himself, I'd go get bandages. If he was sick, I'd go get soup. If he needed a ride to the doctor, I took him,” Janks testified.
Under questioning by her defense attorney, Marc Carlos, Janks testified Merriman drank whiskey regularly and took a number of medications, including sleeping pills.
“He'd ask me for medication or I'd tell him to try something,” Janks said on the witness stand.
In late December 2020, prosecutors alleged Janks was cleaning up her stepfather's house and found naked photos of herself on his computer.
In the days following her discovery of the nude photos, prosecutors said Janks sent of series of text messages to a friend.
On the morning of New Year's Eve 2020, Janks allegedly texted a friend, “I just dosed the hell out of him,” according to evidence presented to the jury.
Later, she allegedly texted the same friend, “It’s pretty much done,” asking the male acquaintance for help moving Merriman out of the back of her SUV.
“I can’t keep a kicking body in my truck. I’m about to club him on the head and he is waking up,” one text displayed in court read.
Days later, deputies found Merriman's body under a pile of trash, next to his garage on Jan. 2, 2021. They soon arrested Janks and charged her with murder, alleging she gave Merriman a lethal combination of sleeping pills and pain killers.
An autopsy found Merriman died from acute intoxication from sleeping pills.
On the witness stand, Janks claimed she had seen Merriman intoxicated in the past, when he visited her house.
“I couldn't understand anything he was saying. There was no conversation. So, I told him when he sobered up, you know, just not to come over that messed up because there's no point,” she testified.
Janks is expected to be cross-examined by prosecutor Jorge Del Portillo on Friday. Closing arguments are expected next week.
