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James Dellinger Tennessee Death Row

James Dellinger and Gary Sutton were sentenced to death by the State of Tennessee for a double murder. According to court documents James Dellinger and Gary Sutton would murder brother and sister, Tommy Griffin, 24 and Connie Branam, 34 before setting their bodies on fire. James Dellinger and Gary Sutton would be arrested, convicted and sentenced to death.

James Dellinger would die on Death Row on January 16 2023

Tennessee Death Row Inmate List

James Dellinger 2021 Information

Name:	JAMES ANDERSON DELLINGER
Birth Date:	01/24/1951
TDOC ID:	00218365
State ID Number (SID):

Gary Sutton 2021 Information

Name:	GARY WAYNE SUTTON
Birth Date:	02/24/1965
TDOC ID:	00218364
State ID Number (SID):

Gary Sutton More News

On the afternoon of February 21, 1992, Dellinger, Sutton, and Griffin spent several hours at Howie’s Hideaway Lounge (Howie’s) on Highway 321 in Maryville, Tennessee. The three men drank beer and played pool until approximately 7:00 p.m., when they left the bar in a dark-blue Camaro. Witnesses testified that there was no evidence of hostility among the men while they were in the bar.

Around 7:00 p.m. Cynthia and Kenneth Walker were traveling north on Alcoa Highway near the Hunt Road exit. They observed three men who appeared to be fighting in a dark-colored Camaro on the side of the road. Two of the men were standing outside of the car attempting to forcibly remove the third man from the back seat. Kenneth Walker used his portable radio to report the incident to the dispatcher for Rural Metro Blount County Ambulance.

Sharon Davis, who was also driving north on Alcoa Highway around the same time, observed a shirtless and shoeless man stumbling down the side of the road near the Hunt Road exit. When Davis passed the same area about thirty or forty minutes later, she saw two men standing outside of a dark-colored Camaro on the side of the road. They appeared to be looking for something.

At 7:11 p.m. Sandra Hicks, a dispatcher for Blount County 911, received a complaint about an altercation involving three men in a dark Camaro at the intersection of Alcoa Highway and Hunt Road. Officer Steve Brooks with the Alcoa Police Department was dispatched to the scene. While making an unrelated traffic stop, Officer Brooks noticed a vehicle with flashing headlights parked on the side of Hunt Road. The officer sent his backup, Officer Drew Roberts, to investigate. Officer Roberts found two men, not Dellinger and Sutton, standing next to a pickup truck. A shirtless man sitting on the bed of the truck identified himself as Griffin. Griffin told the officer that his friends had put him out of a car. Griffin would not identify his friends or tell the officer what had happened. Officer Roberts arrested Griffin for public intoxication. Griffin was booked at the Blount County jail at 7:40 p.m. Dellinger arrived about forty-five minutes to an hour later to ask about Griffin’s release. Sergeant Ray Herron explained to Dellinger that department policy required a minimum four-hour detention for public intoxication and advised him to come back at 10:30 or 11:00 p.m.

Alvin Henry was a resident of Bluff Heights Road, where Dellinger and Griffin both lived. At approximately 9:00 p.m., Henry looked out of his trailer window and saw Dellinger’s white Dodge pickup truck. Henry saw someone enter the passenger side of the truck. The truck drove up the road and pulled into Dellinger’s driveway. Henry then noticed fire shooting from Griffin’s trailer down the road. Henry’s wife reported the fire to the 911 operator at 9:02 p.m. Arson investigator Gary Clabo concluded that the fire was set intentionally with the use of a liquid-type accelerant and an open flame such as a match, candle, or cigarette lighter.

Jennifer Branam, Griffin’s niece, ran to Dellinger’s trailer when she learned that Griffin’s trailer was on fire. Just as Dellinger’s wife was telling Jennifer that Dellinger was not home, Dellinger and Sutton walked down the hall from the living room. The two men were still wearing their jackets, and their pants were wet up to the knees. Jennifer asked them if Griffin was in his burning trailer, and Sutton told her that Griffin was in Blount County with a girl. When Jennifer asked the men to accompany her to the trailer, Dellinger responded that they were already in enough trouble.

After returning home, Jennifer looked out the window and saw Dellinger remove an object wrapped in a sheet from his truck and place it into the back of his wife’s Oldsmobile. Jennifer testified that the object resembled a shotgun. Herman Lewis, a relative of Jennifer, also observed Dellinger moving an object from his truck to his wife’s car shortly after 10:00 p.m. Dellinger and Sutton then left in the Oldsmobile.

At around 11:25 p.m. Dellinger and Sutton returned to the Blount County jail. Dellinger paid a cash bond for Griffin. Officers in the jail lobby overheard one of the defendants tell Griffin that they needed to get him back to Sevier County. At 11:55 p.m. Jason McDonald and his mother, Brenda McKeehan, heard two gunshots fired from an area on the Little River in Blount County called the Blue Hole. The Blue Hole is approximately five hundred yards down the hill from McDonald’s residence.

The next morning, February 22, Jennifer Branam saw Dellinger leave his trailer, remove the object he had placed in his wife’s car the night before, and place the object under his trailer.

Around noon on February 22, Connie Branam, Jennifer’s mother and Griffin’s sister, informed her daughter Sandy of her intent to go to Blount County to look for Griffin. At about 2:00 p.m., Connie Branam went to Jerry Sullivan’s grocery store in Townsend asking if anyone had seen her brother. Sullivan then saw Branam speaking with two men in a white Dodge pickup truck in the grocery store parking lot.

Later that afternoon, Connie Branam accompanied Dellinger and Sutton to Howie’s. Branam told Jamie Carr, who worked as the afternoon bartender at Howie’s, that she was looking for her brother. Responding to Dellinger’s questioning, Carr repeatedly told them that she remembered Dellinger, Sutton, and Griffin from the night before. When Dellinger asked if Carr remembered with whom Griffin left, she responded that they were still at the bar when her shift ended. Dellinger told Carr that they last saw Griffin with a short, dark-haired, ugly woman. When Carr’s shift ended at 5:00 p.m. on February 22, Branam, Dellinger, and Sutton were still drinking beer in the bar.

Terry Lilly Newman worked the shift following Carr’s at Howie’s. When she approached Branam, Dellinger, and Sutton to ask if they needed anything, Dellinger asked Newman if she remembered them from the night before. Newman responded that she recalled seeing Dellinger and Sutton with another man drinking beer and playing pool. Branam explained that she was looking for her brother and asked with whom he had left the bar. Newman became confused because she knew that Griffin had left with Dellinger and Sutton. Dellinger asked Newman if she remembered them returning to Howie’s after they bailed Griffin out of jail, but Newman knew that the three had not returned to Howie’s because she had worked until closing. After unsuccessfully attempting to convince Newman to join them in their search for Griffin, Sutton asked Newman if she was married. When Newman responded that she was married, Sutton stated, “[W]ell, your husband is going to be surprised whenever you’re missing one morning, when he wakes up and you’re missing.” Dellinger, Sutton, and Branam left Howie’s around 6:30 p.m.

About 8:00 p.m. that night, James and Barbara Gordon observed a fire in the woods near the Clear Fork area of Sevier County. The following morning, Barbara Gordon watched a white truck occupied by two men leave the woods and head toward the main road. She testified that the truck was traveling rapidly and that it came from the general area where they had observed the fire the night before.

On Monday, February 24, around 3:30 p.m. Griffin’s body was discovered lying face-down on a bank at the Blue Hole. He had been shot in the back of the neck at the base of the skull with a shotgun. Two 12-gauge shotgun shell casings and beer cans were found near the body. The shotgun shells were fired from the same gun that fired shells later found in Dellinger’s yard. Forensic pathologist Dr. Charles Harlan opined that Griffin had died between 6:00 p.m. on February 21 and 8:00 a.m. on February 22. Dr. Eric Ellington with the Blount County Medical Examiner’s Office conducted the autopsy on Griffin’s body. He concluded that the cause of death was the destruction of the brain stem from the shotgun wound. Ellington retrieved two metal pellets and two pieces of shotgun wadding from Griffin’s brain. The pellets were consistent with pellets loaded in the 12-gauge “00” buckshot casings found near Griffin’s body.

On Friday, February 28, Connie Branam’s body was discovered in her burned vehicle in the wooded area where the Gordons had observed the fire on February 22. Arson investigator Gary Clabo determined that the fire had been set by human hands, started by an outside ignition source with the use of an accelerant. Branam’s body was so badly burned that forensic anthropologist Dr. William Bass was unable to determine the cause or time of death. Dental records were necessary to identify the body. Investigators discovered a rifle shell in the burned vehicle that had been fired from the .303 rifle later found in Dellinger’s trailer.

Based upon the above evidence, the jury convicted Dellinger and Sutton of the first degree premeditated murder of Griffin. At the penalty stage, the State presented evidence that Dellinger and Sutton were previously convicted of first degree premeditated murder in Sevier County in 1993.³ The State also presented proof that Sutton was convicted of aggravated assault in Cobb County, Georgia in 1983.

https://caselaw.findlaw.com/tn-supreme-court/1067503.html

James Dellinger Death

A Tennessee inmate on death row died of apparent natural causes Monday, authorities said.

James Dellinger, 71, was pronounced dead at Riverbend Maximum Security Institution in Nashville, the Tennessee Department of Correction said in a news release.

A medical examiner will determine the exact cause of death, the statement said.

Dellinger was convicted of first-degree murder in the 1992 shooting death of Tommy Griffin, 24, in Blount County. Dellinger was sentenced to death in 1996.

In 2007, the Tennessee Court of Criminal Appeals rejected Dellinger’s appeal. Dellinger claimed he had ineffective counsel.

According to court records, Griffin went drinking at a Maryville bar with Dellinger and Gary Wayne Sutton, who was also convicted in the killing. Griffin was arrested for public intoxication, but Dellinger and Sutton bailed him out later that night. Gunshots were heard a short time later along the Little River and Griffin’s body was found there three days later.

Dellinger and Sutton had previously been convicted in 1993 of murdering Griffin’s sister, Connie Branam, whose body was discovered in her burned vehicle.

Sutton had been scheduled to be executed on Oct. 6, but Gov. Bill Lee issued a reprieve in May.

Lemaricus Davidson Tennessee Death Row

Lemaricus Davidson was sentenced to death by the State of Tennessee for a double murder. According to court documents Lemaricus Davidson and two other men, Letalvis D. Cobbins and George Thomas would carjack the two victims who were sexually assaulted and murdered. Lemaricus Davidson was sentenced to death, his two other accomplices received life sentences

Tennessee Death Row Inmate List

Lemaricus Davidson 2021 Information

LEMARICUS DEVALL DAVIDSON
Birth Date:	06/13/1981
TDOC ID:	00328954
State ID Number (SID):

Lemaricus Davidson More News

This case arises from the January 2007 kidnapping, robbery, rape, and murder of Channon Christian and Christopher Newsom in Knoxville, Tennessee. On Saturday, January 6, 2007, Channon and Chris planned to have dinner together and then spend the evening at a party at a friend’s home in the Halls community. Saturday afternoon, Channon went to her friend Kara Sowards’s apartment at the Washington Ridge Apartments to get ready for the party. Around 8:00 p.m., Ms. Sowards went to the party, and Channon stayed behind waiting for Chris to arrive. At 8:47 p.m., Chris withdrew $100 from his bank account at an ATM machine in the Halls area. Around 9:00 p.m., Chris dropped off his friend, Josh Anderson, at the party, telling friends he and Channon were going out to eat and would join the party later. Ms. Sowards called Channon and told her Chris was on his way. It was about a ten-minute drive from the party to the Washington Ridge Apartments.

Around 10:00 p.m., when Chris and Channon had not arrived at the party, their friends called and texted them but received no reply. Around 11:00 p.m., two of Chris’s friends went to the Washington Ridge Apartments in search of him and discovered that his truck was in the parking lot and Channon’s 2005 Toyota 4Runner was missing.

Chris and Channon never arrived at the party. Their friends never saw or spoke to them again. Channon was last seen wearing jeans, hot pink high heels, and a navy blue, hot pink, and white striped sweater and carrying a gray purse. Chris was last seen wearing jeans, black and silver size 91//2 Nike Shox athletic shoes, a blue sweater with a white collar, and a baseball cap. Sometime between 9:10 p.m. and 11:00 p.m., Chris and Channon were abducted from the parking lot of the Washington Ridge Apartments and taken in Channon‘s vehicle to the home of Lemaricus Devall Davidson at 2316 Chipman Street in Knoxville.

On Sunday, January 7, around 12:30 a.m., Xavier Jenkins, an employee of Waste Connections on Chipman Street, arrived for work and waited in his car in the parking area outside the Waste Connections gated parking lot for a coworker to arrive. From where Mr. Jenkins was parked, he could see across the street to Mr. Davidson’s house and noticed Channon’s vehicle parked in front of it. The porch lights were on, and the house seemed to be “pretty busy” for that time of night. He had never seen Channon’s vehicle before that evening. Mr. Jenkins briefly left to go to a nearby convenience store, and when he returned, he waited in his vehicle in the parking area across from Mr. Davidson’s house. Around 12:50 a.m., he saw Channon’s vehicle pull away from where it had been parked in front of Mr. Davidson’s house and come in his direction. As the vehicle passed Mr. Jenkins, it slowed down, and he saw four African-American men in it. The driver, wearing a hoodie, looked at him “kind of strange” and “kind of mean-[mugged]” him.

On Sunday at 12:33 a.m., Channon called her father and told him she had changed her mind and would not be spending the night at the party but would be home between 2:00 a.m. and 3:00 a.m. Cellular records indicate this call came from the Cherry Street area in the general vicinity of Mr. Davidson’s house.

On Sunday at 1:45 a.m., Jerome Arnold was watching television at his Chipman Street residence a block from Mr. Davidson’s house when he heard “three fairly evenly spaced pops” coming from the direction of the train tracks.

On Sunday around 3:30 a.m., Ms. Sowards returned from the party and noticed that Chris’s truck was in the parking lot and Channon’s vehicle was gone. Ms. Sowards’s apartment door was locked, and Channon’s overnight bag was missing.

On Sunday at 6:30 a.m., when Mr. Jenkins returned to Waste Connections from running his route, he saw Channon’s vehicle with an orange University of Tennessee “Power T” decal on the window parked facing the train tracks in front of Waste Connections on Chipman Street. The vehicle appeared to be out of place, and when Mr. Jenkins looked in the vehicle, he saw no one in it.

On Sunday at 7:45 a.m., when Roy Thurman arrived for work at a sandblasting company in the Chipman Street area, he saw smoke rising from the direction of the train tracks.

On Sunday morning and afternoon, Ms. Sowards and Channon’s mother repeatedly called Channon’s cell phone, but there was no answer. On Sunday afternoon, Channon’s mother’s fears were confirmed when the manager of the Shoe Department where Channon worked called to check on Channon because she had not reported to work. Channon’s mother called local hospitals, Chris’s family, and Channon’s friends trying to find her. When Channon still could not be located, Channon’s mother notified the Knox County Sheriff’s Department and filed a missing persons report. Meanwhile, Chris’s family was also worried about him. They called the police, checked with local hospitals and Chris’s friends, and filed a missing persons report.

On Sunday at 12:20 p.m., J.D. Ford, a Norfolk Southern Railroad employee, discovered Chris’s severely burned body beside the train tracks not far from Mr. Davidson’s house. Chris had been shot, his hands tied behind his back, his eyes covered with a bandana, a sock stuffed in his mouth, his head wrapped in a sweatshirt, and his bare feet bound together. The police were notified and responded to the scene.

When Channon’s family requested help from law enforcement, they were told that the authorities would not search for their missing daughter and they would have to do it themselves. And they did. The Christians contacted their cellular phone company and learned that Channon’s phone had last pinged off the Cherry Street phone tower. On Sunday night, some of Channon’s and Chris’s family and friends went to the Cherry Street area and searched street by street. This was a part of town that Channon and Chris did not visit.

Early Monday, January 8, between 1:30 a.m. and 2:00 a.m., the search party discovered Channon’s vehicle at the corner of Chipman and Glider Streets. An orange University of Tennessee “Power T” decal and a “NorthFace” sticker had been removed from the back window. The police were called and responded to the scene. Bags of clothing, including a pair of GLO jeans, which Channon had planned to donate to charity, were missing from the back of the vehicle. Channon’s overnight bag and its contents were also missing. The front seats of the vehicle were pushed all the way back, and the backseat floorboard was caked with mud. A crumpled pack of Newport cigarettes was in the back of the vehicle. Neither Channon nor Chris smoked Newport cigarettes. The vehicle was photographed, inventoried, and taken to the police impound lot. Sandra Kileen Bible, who lived in the house at the corner of Chipman and Glider Streets, said she had not seen the vehicle there at midnight when she sat on the porch smoking a cigarette. She had never seen Channon’s vehicle in the neighborhood before.

Dan Crenshaw, senior evidence technician with the Knoxville Police Department forensic unit and a certified fingerprint examiner, went to the scene and processed the vehicle for fingerprints. The outside of the vehicle, however, appeared to have been wiped clean, and he could not get any prints.

On Monday, January 8, at 11:00 p.m., when Mr. Crenshaw returned to work on the night shift, he retrieved a bank envelope from the back seat of the vehicle and began processing it.

On Tuesday, January 9, at 2:45 a.m., Mr. Crenshaw determined that the fingerprint on the bank envelope matched Mr. Davidson’s fingerprint. Mr. Crenshaw then discovered that Mr. Davidson’s address was on Chipman Street, close to where Channon’s vehicle and Chris’s body were found. At 2:52 a.m., Mr. Crenshaw emailed Knoxville Police Department Investigator Todd Childress and others informing them he had confirmed Mr. Davidson’s fingerprint on the envelope and his Chipman Street address. At 7:00 a.m., the fingerprint match was verified by Tim Schade, another Knoxville Police Department evidence technician. Mr. Crenshaw was certain that Mr. Davidson was involved in the disappearance of Channon. Between 6:30 a.m. and 7:00 a.m., while waiting on the fingerprint verification, Mr. Crenshaw drove by Mr. Davidson’s Chipman Street house hoping to see or hear something so he or someone else could take action. There were no signs of activity at the house.

On Tuesday morning, after the fingerprint match to Mr. Davidson was verified, Investigator Childress began to search for information regarding Mr. Davidson and discovered, among other things, an outstanding attachment for his arrest for failure to appear in court. Investigator Childress prepared an affidavit for a search warrant for Mr. Davidson’s house. Investigator Childress hurriedly printed the affidavit and did not realize that he had printed it on letter-sized paper instead of legal-sized paper. As a result, the signature line on the affidavit was cut off. Sometime between 10:30 a.m. and noon, Investigator Childress appeared before Knox County General Sessions Judge Tony Stansberry to request the issuance of a search warrant. Investigator Childress did not sign the affidavit but instead signed the search warrant on the line marked “Officer To Whom Warrant Is Delivered For Execution.” Judge Stansberry reviewed the affidavit but did not notice that Investigator Childress had failed to sign it. Investigator Childress raised his hand and swore to the truth of the contents of the affidavit before Judge Stansberry. On Tuesday, January 9, at 12:53 p.m., Judge Stansberry signed the search warrant.

At 1:39 p.m., officers entered Mr. Davidson’s house to execute the search warrant. They quickly checked the house and found no one at home. At 1:42 p.m., Sergeant Keith DeBow entered the kitchen and noticed an oddly shaped thirty-two-gallon plastic garbage can. Fearing someone was hiding in the garbage can, he drew his weapon, lifted the lid, and saw an arm partially covered with fabric. When he touched the arm, he knew he had discovered a dead body.

At 2:04 p.m., Dr. Darinka Mileusnic-Polchan, Knox County’s Medical Examiner, arrived to supervise the removal of Channon’s body. At approximately 3:10 p.m., the garbage can, with Channon’s body still inside, wrapped in a tarp, and secured with plastic tie wires, was removed from the house. Officers discovered Channon’s personalized iPod on top of a container in Mr. Davidson’s bedroom. At 3:30 p.m., the officers left the house after Investigator Childress told them to “[h]old what you’re doing” because the Knox County District Attorney General’s Office had advised him that they were to secure the location and leave the scene. Everyone left except for several officers who stayed outside the home to ensure that no one entered the residence.

Investigator Childress prepared a second affidavit for a search warrant with additional information, including that Channon’s body was found in Mr. Davidson’s house. He signed the affidavit and presented it to Knox County General Sessions Court Judge Chuck Cerny. At 7:25 p.m., Judge Cerny issued the second warrant. At 7:55 p.m., the officers reentered Mr. Davidson’s residence and collected evidence until about 1:30 a.m. on Wednesday. The search of the house produced numerous items that belonged to the victims, including clothing Channon had in her vehicle, photographs she kept in her vehicle, the gray purse she carried on Saturday night, her pink high heels, her iPod with the inscription “Channon Christian, Mom and Dad, we love you,” two of Chris’s baseball caps including the one he was last seen wearing, Channon’s camera, Chris’s driver’s license, a pay stub from Channon’s work, Channon’s mother’s Blockbuster card, a CD, and Channon’s personal toiletry items.

https://caselaw.findlaw.com/tn-supreme-court/1761907.html

Sedrick Clayton Tennessee Death Row

Sedrick Clayton was sentenced to death by the State of Tennessee for a triple murder. According to court documents Sedrick Clayton was involved in an argument with his girlfriend which led to him shooting three people: Pashea Fisher (his girlfriend) and her parents 56-year-old Arithio Fisher, his 46-year-old wife Patricia Fisher. Sedrick Clayton would be arrested, convicted and sentenced to death

Tennessee Death Row Inmate List

Sedrick Clayton 2021 Information

Name:	SEDRICK D CLAYTON
Birth Date:	05/15/1983
TDOC ID:	00538416
State ID Number (SID):

Sedrick Clayton More News

On the morning of January 19, 2012, A’Reco Fisher ⁴ was asleep on the sofa in his family’s living room. A’Reco lived in his parents’ home, in which his sister Pashea Fisher also resided with her four-year-old daughter, J.C.⁵ The defendant, who was Pashea’s boyfriend and the father of her child, arrived at the residence around 12:40 a.m.; he did not reside there and did not have a key to the house, so Pashea met him at the door to let him in. The defendant walked straight back to Pashea’s bedroom. In the early morning hours as A’Reco was sleeping, he was awakened by the sounds of an altercation and gunshots within the home. He heard Pashea crying, and he heard the defendant’s voice. The gunshots startled A’Reco because the family did not own guns, and he did not know that the defendant had a gun. At this time of morning, it was still dark in the living room. A’Reco looked up and saw Pashea and the defendant arguing. Pashea walked down the hall toward their parents’ bedroom. She entered the bedroom and shut and locked the door behind her. The defendant kicked open the door and fired his weapon. Pashea was yelling, “Stop, stop!” A’Reco then saw the defendant “handling” Pashea in the hallway. The defendant “dragged” Pashea to the front of the house, which was the living room. Pashea attempted to fight off the defendant and yelled at A’Reco to call 9-1-1. A’Reco heard the defendant tell Pashea that he was going to shoot her; he then continued to drag her and shot her in the head. The shooting occurred approximately twelve feet away from where A’Reco was positioned. The defendant then ran out of the house, taking J.C. with him. A’Reco heard a vehicle that sounded like Pashea’s start up and drive away. He called 9-1-1. He checked on Pashea and determined that he could not do anything for her. A’Reco never saw his parents prior to the shooting, but he “glanced” in their bedroom afterward. Patricia was “fighting for her life,” and Arithio was “already unconscious.”

A Memphis Police Department (“MPD”) radio dispatcher received a 9-1-1 call at 5:40 a.m. from the land line at the Fishers’ residence. She described the call as an “open line call” in which the dispatcher listens to background noises or conversations but the caller never speaks. The dispatcher could hear male and female voices screaming in the background. She could also hear a small child crying. The dispatcher heard a “gurgling” sound but was unsure of the source. In the background, the dispatcher heard someone else placing a 9-1-1 call. While this open line call was ongoing, another dispatcher received the call from a male caller using a cellular telephone. The dispatcher also heard two gunshots, after which the female voice became silent. She dispatched the police, the fire department, and an ambulance to the address.

After leaving the Fishers’ home, the defendant telephoned Adrienne Lewis, an occasional girlfriend and the mother of one of his children. Ms. Lewis worked the late shift that night, and she was still at work when he called. Ms. Lewis said that the defendant sounded “scared.” He said he needed her to “help him think.” He asked her to leave work, and then he drove toward her place of employment. The defendant left Pashea’s Cadillac in a parking lot near Ms. Lewis’s place of work, and he and Ms. Lewis drove away in her vehicle. J.C. was also with the defendant. They drove first to Ms. Lewis’s home. As he was crying and shaking, the defendant told Ms. Lewis that he had “flipped out” and that he had shot “them.” He said, “I don’t know who I shot or what I shot. I just know somebody in the house ․” They also picked up their daughter, Y.C., because the defendant did not know when he would see his children again. Around ten minutes later, they drove to the home of the defendant’s sister Tameka Rhodes. While there, a news broadcast reported the shooting and stated that two people had been pronounced dead. Soon thereafter, Jesse Clements, the defendant’s brother-in-law, drove the defendant, Ms. Lewis, and the two children to the police precinct in Mr. Clements’s vehicle.

MPD Sergeant Richard Borden with the Felony Response Bureau responded to the scene at Preston Street. Around 7:15 a.m., Lillian Harvey, the defendant’s mother, walked up to Sergeant Borden at the scene. She had seen the news reports and thought she could help. She had spoken with the defendant and reported that he wanted to turn himself in to authorities. After several telephone calls between Sergeant Borden and the defendant, the defendant informed Sergeant Borden that he was proceeding to the Raines Station. At 8:47 a.m., Sergeant Borden received notification that the defendant was in custody and that J.C. was safe. A 0.40 Smith & Wesson pistol and two magazines were recovered from the rear passenger floorboard of the car in which the defendant arrived. The car was driven by another male and occupied by a female and two small children, both female.

MPD Officer Chase Merritt was the first officer to arrive at the crime scene. Through the glass front door he observed a “motionless” female lying in the floor. Upon entering the residence, he noticed an apparent gunshot wound to her temple. At that time, someone called out from the rear of the house, and a black male, who was later identified as A’Reco Fisher, walked down the hallway. After explaining the circumstances of shootings, A’Reco told officers that the defendant took J.C. with him but that J.C. did not want to go.

MPD Officers Matthew Biggs and Michael Tran were the next officers on the scene. When they entered, they had to step over the body of Pashea Fisher to access the rest of the house. Officer Tran approached the master bedroom and noticed that the door had been kicked in and was cracked, and there were pieces of wood scattered about. They observed the body of a black male. His eyes were open, and there was a great amount of blood around his face and torso. A black female was found at the other end of the room; she was moving with difficulty and “making noises.” She was unresponsive to verbal instructions. She was later transported to the hospital. In the bedroom, officers noticed bullet holes and casings, but no firearms were recovered from the residence.

MPD Lieutenant Anthony Mullins reviewed the scene and determined that the shooting began in the bedroom area and moved toward the front door. He also noted a bullet hole in the arm of the sofa through the pillow where A’Reco had been sleeping. A’Reco testified that he was startled awake by the sound of gunshots.

Emergency personnel pronounced Pashea and Arithio dead at the scene. Patricia Fisher was pronounced dead at the hospital after life-saving efforts were unsuccessful. One of the three bullet wounds she sustained entered the chest, perforated the diaphragm, the transverse colon, segments of the small bowel, and the aorta. Arithio Fisher’s fatal wound was a gunshot to the neck that tore the right carotid artery and traveled through the left lung. Pashea’s cause of death was a gunshot wound to the head that went through the left temporal lobe, the left petrous temporal bone at the base of the skull, and exited through the left occipital bone. When her skull was fractured, bone fragments (secondary projectiles) broke loose and caused more damage. The gunshot left stippling at the wound site, which indicated that the bullet was fired from five or six inches to three feet away. The forensic pathologist determined that the causes of death for all three homicide victims were multiple gunshots, and the manners of death were murder.

A firearms identification expert opined that all of the cartridge cases and the intact bullets that were submitted by law enforcement were fired from the firearm that was recovered at the time of the defendant’s arrest. The gun was in operating condition, and the two magazines both fit the weapon and functioned in the firearm.

During the course of the investigation, Lieutenant Darren Goods interviewed the defendant. Lieutenant Goods and Sergeant Joe Stark escorted the defendant to the restroom and began the interview shortly after 4:00 p.m. on January 19, 2012. The reason for the delay was that Lieutenant Goods waited to receive additional instructions and for the Crime Scene Unit to use the alternative light source on the defendant to detect any gunshot residue. Lieutenant Goods also wanted to ensure that he was aware of all of the evidence so he could determine whether the defendant was being truthful.

Both officers entered the interview room unarmed. The defendant was shackled by his ankle to a bolted-down bench in the room. After making introductions, Lieutenant Goods assumed the lead role and explained why they were there. He told the defendant that they were investigating the homicide of the three victims. Lieutenant Goods wrote down the defendant’s biographical information and noted that “[h]e was very coherent. He understood. There [were] not any issues with him not understanding anything that we were saying.” The defendant said that he completed the ninth grade at Southside High School. He denied having consumed alcohol or taken prescription drugs prior to the interview but admitted smoking marijuana at 8:00 or 9:00 p.m. the previous night. He disclaimed any mental health issues. Based on Lieutenant Goods’ twenty-nine years of experience in police work, the defendant did not appear to suffer any after-effects of smoking marijuana the night before.

Before Lieutenant Goods could review the Advice of Rights form with the defendant, he began making a statement. The defendant said, “I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to do it ․” or “something along those lines.” Sergeant Stark, who was taking notes, transcribed the quote as, “I’m so sorry. You ain’t even got to say it.” Then the defendant whispered, “I’m sorry.” Lieutenant Goods asked him to pause his statement so they could review with him the Advice of Rights form. The defendant then stopped talking, and the officers and the defendant read, reviewed, and signed the Advice of Rights form. As he was writing the date the defendant said, “This is Pop’s birthday.” The official start time of the interview was 4:32 p.m.

Pursuant to the department policy, Lieutenant Goods began the process by taking a verbal statement from the defendant. He said that “[the defendant] began to tell his version of what happened. And his initial version of what happened wasn’t exactly consistent with the evidence.” The officers confronted the defendant with the initial evidence, the medical information, and the 9-1-1 recordings. Lieutenant Goods recalled that “Pashea could clearly be heard on the 9-1-1 tape of begging him not to kill her parents.” The defendant commented, “She’s playing a game cause they were already – that had already happened.” The defendant’s verbal statement lasted one hour, during which he had a break to use the restroom.

The defendant changed his statement more than once during that hour. He never asked to stop the interview and never asked for an attorney. Lieutenant Goods said that he would have stopped the interview immediately if the defendant had requested either. The defendant had already been placed under arrest and was not free to leave at that time. If he had ceased the interview, he would have gone straight to jail.

In the final version of the defendant’s verbal statement, he said that he and Pashea had been dating for some time. Around 12:30 a.m., as the defendant and Pashea were engaged in sexual intercourse, the defendant noticed a strange smell as though Pashea had been having sex earlier in the day. An argument arose between them, and Pashea admitted to him that she had been seeing someone else. The two of them continued to argue, then the defendant calmed down. They discussed the issue for a couple of more hours then engaged in “makeup sex.” Afterward, the defendant acted as though he was going to leave her. The defendant arose to leave, and Pashea begged him to stay. The defendant tried to walk out of the room and out of the house, but he realized he left his keys and some belongings in the house. He turned around and walked toward the bedroom area but stopped at the bathroom to “wash himself off.” Pashea entered the bathroom, and they argued some more. As the defendant was attempting to leave, Pashea began to tug on his shirt or jacket, which led to a “tussle in the hallway.”

The defendant noticed that a light had turned on in Mr. and Mrs. Fisher’s bedroom. At some point during the argument, her parents’ bedroom door opened, and a “bright light” shined on him. “[A]ll of a sudden, [Arithio] knock[ed] him down, knock[ed] Pashea down.” During the struggle, the defendant dropped his gun, the magazine, his keys, and his “dope” scales. He picked up the gun and started shooting. The defendant claimed that he fired because “he was in fear of his life.”

Arithio and Pashea then walked into Arithio’s bedroom. The defendant used his shoulder to break down the door into the bedroom and forced his way in. He began shooting into the room. He saw Patricia crawling across the bed and fired in her direction. He watched her fall in front of the mirror. The defendant initially did not think that he shot her and that she was just hiding. He turned to leave but came back and reloaded his weapon.

The defendant confirmed that he was aware that A’Reco, the Fishers’ son, usually slept in the living room, either on the sofa or in the recliner. Because it was dark, the defendant shot in the general direction of where A’Reco would have been sleeping. Meanwhile, Pashea held onto the defendant, begging him not to kill her parents. The four-year-old child, J.C., began screaming. The defendant maintained that at some point, Pashea grabbed him and the gun discharged, which is when she was struck and killed. The defendant grabbed the child, left the residence, and telephoned another girlfriend to pick him up. During the call, he told the girlfriend that he had just shot the Fishers and Pashea and he was trying to get his head straight.

As the transcriptionist typed the defendant’s statement during the interview, the defendant corrected her as she typed and then reviewed the final statement for corrections. The defendant made more corrections to his statement than Lieutenant Goods had ever seen anyone make. During the typewritten statement, the defendant asked, “[W]hat if I want an attorney?” Lieutenant Goods said they would stop and get him an attorney, but the defendant said he wanted to continue. Lieutenant Goods opined that the defendant had no problem understanding what was happening; he made a correction on almost every page of the statement, and most of the changes were made in a way to try to mitigate his involvement. At one point, the officers tried to take a break for themselves, but the defendant said that he wanted to keep talking, so they sat back down.

With regard to A’Reco Fisher, the defendant said that if he shot toward him, it was “not on purpose, but [he] shot in the living room to scare [A’Reco] so [he] could get out.” After the interview was completed, Lieutenant Goods encountered the defendant as he was awaiting the transport car to escort him to the Shelby County Jail. Lieutenant Goods described the defendant’s demeanor as “cavalier.” He said, “We were just kind of sitting around, talking. And he was cavalier about what had happened and I started to get a little angry with him. And he said something – ‘I don’t know why you’re raising your voice. It’s not a big deal,’ or something along those lines.”

Upon this evidence, the jury found the defendant guilty as charged of all counts in the indictment: Count I: first degree murder of Arithio Fisher; Count II: first degree murder of Patricia Fisher; Count III: first degree murder of Pashea Fisher; Count IV: attempted first degree murder of A’Reco Fisher; Count V: possession of a firearm with the intent to go armed during the commission or attempt to commit a dangerous felony; Count VI: employing a firearm during the commission or attempt to commit a dangerous felony; and Count VII: unauthorized use of a motor vehicle. See Tenn. Code Ann. §§ 39-12-101, 39-13-202(a)(1), 39-14-106, 39-17-1324(a).

https://caselaw.findlaw.com/tn-supreme-court/1880426.html

Tyrone Chalmers Tennessee Death Row

Tyrone Chalmers was sentenced to death by the State of Tennessee for a murder during a robbery. According to court documents Tyrone Chalmers was driving around with two accomplices looking for someone to rob. The victim was told to undress before he was shot and killed. Tyrone Chalmers would be arrested, convicted and sentenced to death.

Tennessee Death Row Inmate List

Tyrone Chalmers 2021 Information

Name:	TYRONE CHALMERS
Birth Date:	08/02/1973
TDOC ID:	00265398
State ID Number (SID):

Tyrone Chalmers More News

At approximately 5:00 a.m. on August 20, 1994, the body of the African-American victim, 28-year-old Randy Allen, was discovered lying face down on the sidewalk next to Netherwood Street in Memphis. His pants and underwear had been pulled down around his ankles, and he had been shot five times. Two of the wounds, one to the head and another to the back, were fatal.

Ten days after the shooting, the 21-year-old African-American defendant admitted to Memphis police that he had killed the victim during a robbery. The defendant stated:

I met up with “Dre” and “Black” on Orleans and So. Parkway near the park. “Black” was driving something like a[sic] Oldsmobile, “Dre” was in the front passenger seat and I got in the back seat. We were just riding around looking for somebody to rob. I had some kind of automatic rifle, it had a clip in it, black and brown color. “Dre” had a .380 automatic or something, look [sic] black to me. I think “Black” had a shotgun. “Black” was driving down Netherwood, and me and “Dre” jumped out on two boys.2 We tried to rob them. We made them strip, then I had hit the one that was killed with the rifle and it went off, and I couldn’t let the rifle go. Then me and “Dre” jumped in the car and left, with “Black” driving. Then “Black” dropped me and “Dre” off near a house, close to Southside School.

Tyrone Chalmers, who robbed Murphy and the victim of $3.00, estimated that he had fired six times. The defendant concluded his statement by remarking, “I’m sorry it ever happened. If I could go through it again, I wouldn’t.”

Based on this proof, the jury convicted the defendant of felony murder and especially aggravated robbery.

https://caselaw.findlaw.com/tn-supreme-court/1171659.html

Preston Carter Tennessee Death Row

Preston Carter was sentenced to death by the State of Tennessee for a double murder. According to court documents Preston Carter and accomplices forced their way into an apartment and would murder a couple, Thomas and Tensia Jackson, inside. According to police the group thought they were breaking into a drug dealers apartment however they had the wrong address. Preston Carter would be arrested, convicted and sentenced to death.

Tennessee Death Row Inmate List

Preston Carter 2021 Information

Name:	PRESTON CARTER
Birth Date:	04/25/1970
TDOC ID:	00221001
State ID Number (SID):	548467

Preston Carter More News

During the early morning hours of May 28, 1993, Carter, accompanied by Darnell Ivory and Louis Anderson, went to a Memphis apartment complex where Thomas and Tensia Jackson resided with their young daughter, Tierney.² The three men were under the mistaken belief that the Jacksons’ apartment was the residence of a drug dealer whom they intended to rob. Carter and Anderson knocked on the door of the Jacksons’ apartment. Mr. Jackson came to the door but did not open it. Carter and Anderson asked Mr. Jackson “if he [had] anything.” Mr. Jackson replied that he did not know what they were talking about, and he refused to open the door. The men quickly realized they had the wrong apartment. Nevertheless, after handing a sawed-off shotgun to Anderson, Carter kicked in the apartment door.

Carter and Anderson entered the Jacksons’ apartment and demanded money. Mr. Jackson was told to call for his wife to “come out” and was forced into a closet. As Carter searched the apartment for money or drugs, Anderson raped Mrs. Jackson. According to Carter, Mr. Jackson came at him in an apparent attempt to defend his family. Carter admitted, however, that he shot Mr. Jackson while Mr. Jackson was crouching in his daughter’s bedroom closet. Carter shot him at point-blank range with the sawed-off shotgun. Mr. Jackson’s brain was literally blown out of his skull, and he died instantly. Next, Carter found Mrs. Jackson in the bathroom. She was clad only in a t-shirt, and she was screaming, “Please don’t shoot me. I’ll do anything. Please don’t shoot.” Ignoring her pleas to live, Carter shot Mrs. Jackson at close range as she lay on the bathroom floor. The shotgun pellets entered her left eye, and her brain exploded. She also died instantly.

Shortly before 4:00 a.m., three of Mr. Jackson’s co-workers arrived at the Jacksons’ apartment to pick him up for work at a local bakery. Among the co-workers were Mrs. Jackson’s brother, Derrick Lott, and Thomas Jackson’s brother, Kenneth Jackson. They found the front door to the Jacksons’ apartment kicked in and the master bedroom ransacked. Mr. Lott discovered the Jacksons’ daughter lying in a pool of blood in the closet with her dead father. The child had not been physically injured.

On the evening of May 28, 1993, the date of the double homicide, Carter was arrested. He gave a statement to police admitting that he shot Mr. and Mrs. Jackson. The sawed-off shotgun Carter used was found in his apartment, and he admitted using this weapon to shoot the two victims.

In addition to proof regarding the circumstances of the murders, the State introduced evidence at the resentencing hearing that Carter had previously been convicted of aggravated robbery with a shotgun.

https://caselaw.findlaw.com/tn-supreme-court/1110585.html