Day three shifted sharply into the defense case: after the Commonwealth finished with David Strong, the defense called Lauren Page, who described hearing officer commands and gunshots from downstairs, followed by neighbor Maureen Toorisi, who testified about a later conversation in which Patrick Noonan described the shooting and allegedly referred to Kelsey as a “whackjob.”

The most important testimony came when Kelsey herself took the stand and told Judge Jeffrey T. Karp that after being handed the restraining order and told her son would leave with Justin Aylaian, she decided within seconds to kill herself, intentionally lied about where her guns were, and grabbed the handgun upstairs because she believed she had “just lost everything.”

She testified that the gun went only to her own temple, that it clicked when she pulled the trigger, and that Noonan shot her before she could process anything further — directly matching the defense theory that this was a suicide attempt, not an assault on police.