GENEVA, Ohio — Two mothers have united in a search for answers in the shooting deaths of their son and daughter six years ago in Ashtabula County.
The Ashtabula County coroner at the time ruled the death of 20-year-old Jayla Gill a homicide and the death of 24-year-old Jesse Burgett a suicide.
The sheriff’s office concluded Burgett shot Gill and then shot himself.
Jayla’s mother, Kelly Harper, and Jesse’s mother, Lisa Burgett, don’t believe it happened the way the coroner and the sheriff’s office say it did.
“He was not that kind of kid,” Burgett said.
One decision made before the case was closed is still fueling questions. Autopsies were not done on Jayla and Jesse.
"I just knew my son couldn’t do this, but I had resigned to the fact that it was murder-suicide, but knowing in my heart that he couldn’t have ever done this," Burgett said.
The couple
Family members of Jayla Gill and Jesse Burgett described the couple as being in love. The two were building a life together with a new Husky. Jayla would travel the country with Jesse for his work.
“If you would have just seen the kids together,” Kelly Harper said.
“They were two kids in love,” Lisa Burgett said.
The discovery
On the evening of Aug. 31, 2020, Ashtabula County sheriff’s deputies were called to a home on Hemlock Lane in Geneva.
Moments earlier, Jesse’s father, Toby Burgett, who lives upstairs, called 911 after he found the bodies of his son, Jesse, and Jesse's girlfriend, Jayla, inside his home. Both were shot in the head.
Burgett told a dispatcher it appeared it was either a murder-suicide or two suicides.
Gill’s family told deputies they hadn’t heard from her and tracked her phone to Toby’s house.
In a body camera video, Kelly Harper told deputies she banged on the window, and no one answered the door.
“My daughters call me a hundred times a day when you don’t hear from somebody that’s… a mom knows,” Harper said.
The night before, the couple was supposed to meet Jesse’s family for dinner. But Jayla sent a text message saying, ‘Jesse’s in a mood.’
Deputy reports show that Toby Burgett was home, heard a loud rattling noise but not a gunshot, and received no response to a message the next morning before he went about his day.
“I believe it was; I believe they were both killed,” Harper said.
Ashtabula County Sheriff Chief Deputy Terry Moisio oversaw detectives at the time of the death investigation.
Moisio says it appears there was an argument and some scuffle in the couple’s downstairs bedroom.
Deputy records show both Gill's and Burgett's and Jayla’s DNA was on the gun found in the room.
“The evidence is clear. DNA evidence—it is clear. There is no question,” Moisio said.
The two mothers have been working with private investigator Ron Brotherton, who believes more forensic testing should be done.
“I am convinced something is wrong,” Brotherton said.
Brotherton wants Jayla’s body exhumed and Jesse’s cremated remains examined for possible bullet fragments.
“Why would a coroner not do an autopsy on a murder-suicide? Why?” Brotherton said.
News 5 Investigators asked Chief Deputy Moisio.
“So that was a bone of contention with me. I argued with the coroner’s investigator; I wanted autopsies performed. The coroner said no,” Moisio said.
Deputy reports show coroner’s investigator Tom Despenes said no autopsies would be performed.
“I still remember yelling at the coroner’s investigator in the living room of this house. We need an autopsy. Why won’t you do an autopsy?” Moisio said.
The Ashtabula County coroner at the time, Pamela Lancaster, wrote in her verdict: no autopsies.
News 5 Investigators could not reach Despenes and Lancaster for comment.
Should autopsies have been done?
Dr. David Applegate is the coroner for Union County and also serves as treasurer for the Ohio State Coroners Association.
“A murder-suicide is an automatic for me,” Applegate said.
Applegate says an autopsy can help document how a person died and provide critical information for investigators.
But in Ohio, most autopsies are left up to the coroner’s discretion.
“Autopsies are just one piece of an investigation. I choose to do the autopsies as more of a complete puzzle to remove that idea that nothing was done,” Applegate said.
What’s next?
Harper wants answers for both families.
“Her son; people are looking at him like he’s a murderer; his name needs to come clean,” Harper said.
Despite the questions, Moisio remains certain in the case determination.
“Absolutely confident, but I’m always open; I mean, I’m not bullheaded. If there’s something else we missed, didn't miss it, okay. But there’s nothing here,” Moisio said.
News 5 Investigators also reached out to Jesse's father for comment. He ended the call when offered an opportunity to be interviewed.
"I’m not gonna give up. I’m not gonna back off. I think those mothers have a right to know what happened to those kids," Brotherton said.
