A jury was selected Tuesday afternoon to decide whether or not Lakeyria Doughty, better known as the “Wheelie Queen,” is guilty of killing her girlfriend.
The actress and dirt biker earned her moniker by breaking into Baltimore’s male-dominated 12 O’Clock Boys crew and being featured in the HBO movie “Charm City Kings.” She graduated from Frederick Douglass High School, and told The Baltimore Sun in 2014 that she wanted to be a positive example for the city’s youth.
But instead of starring in a TV adaptation of the HBO film, Doughty, 28, is fighting for her freedom.
She is accused of fatally stabbing 33-year-old chef Tiffany Wilson, with whom she’d been in a relationship. She is charged with first-degree murder and carrying a deadly weapon with the intent to injure.
Police said Doughty stabbed Wilson in the early hours of New Year’s Day 2021 during a dispute over their relationship; Doughty and her defense attorney have said Wilson stabbed herself, that Doughty called 911 and tried to save her, and that she was devastated by Wilson’s death.
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Tuesday morning, Doughty rejected prosecutors’ plea offer for second-degree murder and a sentence of 40 years suspending all but 20 years in prison.
Her defense attorney made a counteroffer of involuntary manslaughter with a 10-year prison sentence, but the State’s Attorney’s Office declined.
Jury selection was set to begin around 9:30 a.m., but authorities did not transport Doughty to court. The delay prompted the bench to reassign the case to a different judge because the first judge was not available Friday or Monday. Circuit Court Judge Gregory Sampson now will preside over Doughty’s trial.
Prospective jurors began to file into the courtroom after 2 p.m., and heard a series of questions from Sampson intended to tease out biases and determine whether people could be fair and impartial jurors.
Sampson asked questions typical in the jury selection process plus some that were unique to Doughty’s case. Sampson asked the panel whether they had seen “Charm City Kings” and recognized Doughty from the film. He also asked whether anyone on the panel had strong feelings about same-sex relationships, considering the circumstances of the alleged crime.
One woman stood up for the question about the movie. She was excused after Sampson and the attorneys asked follow-up questions at the bench with white-noise playing in the courtroom.
None of the people who said they had strong feelings about same-sex relationships ended up on the jury.
Only one juror answered that they had knowledge about the case based on the limited information Sampson provided them: The date and location of the alleged crime, the address and Doughty’s name.
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According to charging documents, detectives discovered text messages between the women that showed Wilson was breaking up with Doughty and wanted her to return the keys to her apartment. Police wrote that Wilson asked to be left alone.
Doughty called 911, saying Wilson stabbed herself with a kitchen knife. Officers rushed to Wilson’s residence in the 1200 block of North Stricker Street around 4:15 a.m. They found Wilson with stab wound in the left side of her chest, near her armpit, in the Sandtown-Winchester apartment, and Doughty beside her covered in blood, according to charging documents.
Medics pronounced Wilson dead at the scene, police wrote, and the medical examiner’s office ruled she died by homicide.
In the apartment, officers noticed signs of a potential fight, according to charging documents: Furniture was moved around and there were scuff marks on the wall. Moreover, it appeared to police as if jewelry and hair had been ripped out.
With the medical examiner opinion, detectives filed murder charges against Doughty in the first homicide of 2021. Police wrote that there was a history of domestic violence between the women.
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At a bail review hearing shortly after Doughty’s arrest, her defense attorney advocated for her release and spoke of her client’s good deeds in the community. Andrea Jaskulsky told a judge that Doughty spoke at schools and offered to teach girls to ride motorbikes.
“My client’s position is I didn’t do anything wrong. That this was a self-inflicted wound. I tried to save her,” Jaskulsky said at the time.