CHULA VISTA (KGTV) — The now ex-wife of Maya Millete’s affair partner testified that her former husband was with her in the hospital the night Maya disappeared Jan. 7, 2021.
Patricia Laird, who works as a San Diego County sheriff’s deputy, also testified Thursday morning that she did not know all the details of the affair until Jamey Laird testified on the stand earlier this week.
“What is everything? Is everything still out? I don’t know,” Patricia said on the stand, when being questioned by Larry’s defense attorney about the affair.
Patricia said Larry first called her around February or March 2020, saying their spouses were cheating on them. She initially did not believe her husband was having an affair, but after she saw a social media notification on her husband’s phone the day after Valentine’s Day in 2020, she kicked Jamey out of the house.
She testified that in early 2020, she felt like Larry was calling her weekly. Toward the fall season, those calls dropped to every few weeks. Patricia said Larry was always kind and respectful on the phone, but she ended up blocking several of his phone numbers because she “felt like it was a little too much.”
“I didn’t want to be involved in this drama, didn’t want to believe my husband was cheating on me,” she said. When she found out she was pregnant, she wanted to focus on getting ready for her first child.
“I didn’t want to be part of this triangle,” she said. “I didn’t want to hear it anymore.”
She confirmed that she did not live with Jamey from mid-February to September 2020, but that after she found out she was pregnant, they tried to fix their marriage.
A few days before Maya went missing, she said Larry called her and told her the affair was still ongoing. Patricia got Maya’s phone number and asked her directly about the affair. She said Maya sounded shocked and surprised over the phone She also said that Maya, whom Patricia called “May” on the stand, told her Jamey was not cheating and that she was making up to those things to get “Larry off her back,” as the defense phrased it during questioning.
Patricia said that when Maya told her Larry was crazy, that’s when she went into law enforcement mode. She asked Maya if she needed resources, such as a restraining order. Patricia said Maya told her no.
When asked by Deputy District Attorney Christy Bowles why she offered her help at the time, Patricia said that you can’t use the word “crazy” lightly.
Patricia testified that domestic violence could happen and safety can be a concern.
She said Jamey finally confessed to the affair after she brought her baby home in January 2021. This was a few days after Maya was reported missing.
Before the jurors were brought into the courtroom, Bowles tried to get photos of Jamey in the hospital submitted as evidence, but the judge ruled against it as it violated the third-party culpability order.
Prior to Patricia’s testimony, Maya’s best friend also wrapped up her testimony.
Courtney Nixon emphasized that Maya was certain that she was going to get divorced and leave Larry. She also said Maya would never leave her children. Nixon got emotional and held back tears as photos of Maya with her kids were shown in court.
One person noticeably absent in court Thursday was Richard Drouaillet, Larry’s brother-in-law. He is married to Maya’s sister, Maricris, and has been in court daily since the trial began six weeks ago.
He was accused on Wednesday by Larry’s defense team of making gestures to Larry in court. While the bailiffs found nothing concrete in a review of court surveillance video, the judge warned Drouaillet that he would be removed if it happened again. Drouaillet said he understood but accused Larry Millete of looking at him as well.
In court Thursday, ABC 10News anchor Melissa Mecija observed Larry acknowledging his family in the gallery, giving them a slight nod when they made eye contact. While he has been mostly stoic during trial, there was a moment where he and his attorney smiled and laughed before the court took a break for lunch.
