No Testimony from Prostitute on Trial for Brother Rice Teacher's Murder

The woman accused of killing Brother Rice teacher Al Filan refrained from testifying in her own defense Wednesday, and closing arguments will be delivered Thursday.

There was no evidence or testimony in defense of Alisha Walker, 22, charged with first-degree murder in the Jan. 18, 2014 brutal stabbing of Filan. Opening arguments and a videoed interrogation have cast Filan as a customer enraged by her and another prostitute’s refusal to have unprotected sex.

Assistant State’s Attorney Jim Papa in his opening statement argued that Walker grabbed the knife first and came at Filan; her attorney called Filan the aggressor, from whom Walker grabbed the knife and struck back.

Walker and another woman visited Filan’s home Jan. 18, 2014, after he contacted them through Backpage.com. It was Walker’s third encounter with Filan, who had paid her upwards of $1,000 total in past exchanges. That day in January, Filan became angry over being ”cat-fished” when the second woman’s appearance didn’t match her photos, argued Walker’s attorney Patrick O’Byrne. After an argument, Filan negotiated a half-hour of sex with the women for $300, but when he insisted on unprotected and the girls refused, he demanded his money back. Both sides acknowledge that an argument took place.

Police found his body several days later.

>> Read: Brother Rice Teacher Wanted Unprotected Sex

On Wednesday, Cook County Assistant Medical Examiner Latanja Watkins described what she found during the autopsy she conducted on Filan. Two stab wounds that caused massive internal bleeding—one in the middle of his chest and one in his abdomen. The latter caused one liter of blood to pool in his stomach, reports the Daily Southtown. Alcohol was detected in Filan’s blood, and police found empty beer and booze bottles in his home.

Phone records show she and Filan texted and called each other the day he died, with Walker (who went by the name “Kellis”) even responding warmly with, “OK baby, give me a min, getting dressed, be to you soon,” as testified by Hickory Hills police Detective Adam Gulczynski. Location services show Walker was at or around the house from 5:30 to 6:30 p.m. that day. After she left, she ditched her cell phone number and activated a new one under the same account.

Closing arguments are expected Thursday. Jurors will be allowed to consider convicting her of the lesser charge of second-degree murder.

>> Read more from the Chicago Tribune.