ESCANABA, Mich. (WZMQ) – Witness testimony has revealed new information about a 2023 Delta County murder.
Earlier this week, a trial began with Tavaris Lee Jackson as the defendant. Jackson is accused of murdering a pregnant 22-year-old named Harley Corwin, whose body was found in the woods of Ford River Township.
According to testimony earlier in the week, police collected several items belonging to Jackson as evidence during their investigation. On Friday, the prosecution called several forensic scientists who examined that evidence to the stand.
One of the key items scientists examined was a pair of slides worn by Jackson. A Michigan State Police (MSP) Forensic Laboratory in Marquette analyzed “red-brown stains” found on the slides. The stains tested positive for the presence of blood, prompting the laboratory to send samples to a lab in Grand Rapids.
Forensic DNA Scientist Sarah Rambadt testified about her examination of the samples at the MSP Grand Rapids Forensic Laboratory. She said some of the items tested contained DNA from three individuals. Specifically for the slides, she explained the likelihood of some of that DNA belonging to Corwin.
“We’re going to compare Harley to this one,” Rambadt said, referring to results from a test of the blood stain on the left slide. “Is it Harley and one unrelated, unknown individual or two unrelated, unknown individuals? Based on the DNA typing results from the sample, it’s approximately 30 septillion times more likely if it originated from Harley and one unrelated, unknown individual.”
“So the swab from the right slide and the swab from the left side are very strong support that that is Harley Corwin’s DNA?” asked the prosecution.
Rambadt answered, “That Harley Corwin is a contributor to those mixtures, yes.”
The defense questioned Rambadt about the “unrelated, unknown” individuals.
“Is it your opinion there is a person’s DNA that we do not know whose it is in those samples with three contributors?” the defense asked.
“Each of these samples… that I attributed as three donors, yes, each of them had at least one individual that we have not identified, right?” Rambadt replied. “Harley was associated to—I want to say most of those samples, if not all of—the ones that we talked about, but there are individuals in some of those samples that we do not yet have a positive association.”
Several other forensic experts testified about tests they ran during their investigations. A portion of that testimony revolved around the two bullets found in the ground near Corwin’s body, which sustained two bullet wounds to the head.
According to MSP Marquette Laboratory Forensic Scientist Lisa Oravetz-Burling, the bullets did not test positive for the presence of human blood. However, she said it is possible for a bullet to go through a human body and test negative. She also commented on the condition of the bullets, which were coated in mud and appeared to have begun oxidizing, as well as the weather conditions at the murder scene.
“I was told that it had just rained, and it was kind of a very muddy and swampy area,” Oravetz-Burling testified.
The prosecution asked, “Would those conditions contribute to the condition of the bullets that we see right now?”
“Yes,” Oravetz-Burling answered.
“Would those conditions out in the area where the bullets were found be conducive to body fluid identification?” asked the prosecution.
“These, I would say no,” said Oravetz-Burling. “It’s very difficult. These bullets were also going to be turned over to the firearms unit. I didn’t want to start scraping any of the material off or anything like that because that could interfere with their examination.”
Jackson faces charges of open murder, felony possession of a firearm, and assault intentionally causing the death of a fetus. The prosecution called the last of its witnesses Friday afternoon. The trial will resume on Monday, and WZMQ 19 will continue to report on the proceedings. Click here for our previous report on the case.
