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By
Claire Schreiber
, Caroline Sutley - March 14, 2025
Court
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Daily Stories
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Shooting
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Suspects
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Defense counsel questioned several findings from expert witnesses on March 12, the third day of trial for homicide defendant George Kuhn, 46, before Baltimore City Circuit Court Judge Martin P. Welch.
In connection to a fatal incident on June 12, 2022, Kuhn was charged with first-degree murder, firearm use in a felony violent crime, and firearm possession with a felony conviction.
According to police documents, officers responded to a 911 call Kuhn made, claiming he shot and killed his fiancée, 36-year-old Kristy Helmert, during an alleged domestic dispute while in her vehicle.
Defense attorney Derrick Hamlin called the first expert witness, a forensic scientist who processed firearms for the case. They swabbed the items to preserve biological material, noting a red-brown stain on the handgun. They also processed the items for latent prints, which yielded no results.
Hamlin questioned the scientist’s testing methods, asking why they did not use a more effective method, to which the scientist responded that it is a standard lab method. He also asked about proficiency tests, and the scientist confirmed that they had them but don’t carry certification cards.
“Oh so we just gotta take it for your word then?” Hamlin said, “If everyone in this courtroom touched the gun we would leave skin cells, and you wouldn’t be able to tell who shot the gun, right?” The scientist responded yes.
Hamlin called the second expert witness from correctional services. He arrived at the scene to find the defendant already in custody and the victim still in the car, which had crashed into a telephone pole on the 6400 block of Erdman Avenue. The sergeant identified the defendant in court as the person he saw that night.
During the investigation, he found two .40 caliber cartridge cases; one inside the vehicle, the other outside.
The prosecution admitted several pictures of Helmert’s body and face into evidence, along with surveillance footage from nearby cameras showing the incident, police arriving, and the defendant getting out of the vehicle with his hands in the air before police arrived.
It is suspected that Kuhn threw the gun on the roof of a warehouse.
A K9 search did not find anything, but detectives used a ladder to locate a Smith & Wesson .40 caliber handgun on the roof. It was admitted into evidence along with the two cartridge casings found at the scene.
Hamlin presented a series of crime scene photos to the detective, starting with images of the victim’s hands at the scene and her vehicle. These photos showed the car’s original state, the trunk, and the victim’s bag after being removed from the car. Inside the bag was a cell phone, a Bud Light can, as well as an eight-pack box of beer in the trunk.
Hamlin pressed the detective on whether a toxicology report would have shown alcohol in the victim’s system.
When the detective stated it was possible, Hamlin cut him off and said, “It could have shown? It DID show!”
However, the detective indicated that he did not receive the toxicology report.
The next piece of evidence Hamlin presented was extracted data from Helmert’s phone. He suggested it could reveal a glimpse into her mental state. Hamlin presented disturbing images from her Facebook which included photos of gunshot victims with wounds to the head.
He also highlighted a photo showing Helmert with a firearm.
“Don’t you think as lead detective it’s important to know there are pictures of her with guns?” Hamlin said.
Further cellular extraction found no apparent evidence of domestic violence or physical altercations between Kuhn and Helmert.
The prosecution asked when the detective identified Kuhn as the suspect. The detective stated that he made the determination immediately at the scene, based on the 911 call and video evidence.
The defense questioned the detective’s investigation, particularly whether he considered Kuhn’s possible intoxication. The detective said he acknowledged Kuhn’s inebriated appearance but did not conduct any tests.
The prosecution insisted Kuhn was guilty of shooting Helmert, while Hamlin argued it was an attempted suicide that Kuhn attempted to interfere with. He suggested that Kuhn’s 911 reflected guilt over the death, rather than the commission of it.
The fourth day of trial was scheduled for March 14 before Judge Welch.