A jury convicted a Merrillville woman Wednesday night of killing her husband after a fight on her birthday.

Nakeyia Anderson, now 43, was convicted of reckless homicide, a Level 5 felony, in the July 18, 2021 fatal shooting of her husband, Tihomas Anderson, 44.

Her sentencing hearing is Jan. 11.

A detective testified Tuesday that investigators didn’t test a gun for fingerprints or DNA because they knew the identity of the couple who was fighting for her gun when it went off.

“We did not think that was necessary,” said Merrillville Police Commander Matthew Paunicka, the case’s lead detective.

Prosecutors ultimately wanted the coroner’s report to see at what angle he was shot, the detective said.

You don’t dispute they were fighting over the weapon, her lawyer Scott King said.

No, Paunicka said, adding with further questioning that he couldn’t say why the bullet shell stayed lodged in the gun when it should have ejected. King asked if Tihomas could have grabbed part of the slide. Paunicka responded there could have been a “number” of reasons.

When King asked if investigators took the gun to examine what caused the casing to stay put, the detective said he didn’t think they could recreate exactly what happened.

During the fight, she was trying to stop him from getting a finger on the trigger, the lawyer said.

Does DNA point to when something was touched, Deputy Prosecutor Tara Villarreal asked. No, the detective responded.

Police were called that night to the 5900 block of Harrison Street, where they found Tihomas Anderson on the ground, shot in the torso, according to charges.

Nakeyia Anderson said they got into a fight after coming home from celebrating her birthday at a bar. She claimed during the fight, her husband grabbed the car keys of her silver Chevy Malibu to leave.

She got into the passenger seat and grabbed the gun inside, charges state. She said the gun went off as they fought over it.

He staggered to the yard, where he collapsed.

The house was in “disarray” with a liquor cabinet tipped over with several broken bottles scattered on the floor. Pictures were knocked off the wall, a glass table was partially tipped over and a TV was partially pulled off the wall. Kitchen appliances were thrown all over the floor.

Tihomas Anderson’s relatives told police their relationship was “volatile,” that she drank heavily and had threatened to kill him before, the affidavit alleges. Police were called to the home twice before — in April and November 2020 for domestic disturbances, records show.

mcolias@post-trib.com