Verdict: Guilty of 2 ct felony murder, one ct att 1st degree murder, one ct att esp agg robbery.
A jury convicted Brown of the December 12, 2006 murders of store clerks Salama Estfanous and Bishouy Hanna. Both were shot to death in a robbery attempt at the AM/ PM Market on Gallatin Road in Madison by Brown and Rokisha Alderson. A customer in the store was also shot and injured. A third co-defendant, Robin Betts, had previously pled guilty to facilitation of first degree murder, and is serving 60 years. Brown will serve two life sentences without parole.
Case 2008-C-2776, November 13, 2009
Defendant - Kimberly Kelton
Verdict: Guilty plea to vehicular homicide by intoxication, sentence of 9 years.
Kelton pled guilty to hitting Perry Hamm on his motorcycle in June 2008 while she was driving down Nolensville Road while intoxicated. The victim was knocked to the road by Kelton's car and run over by another vehicle.
Verdict: Armstrong pled guilty to facilitation of first degree murder and received a 25-year sentence. Williamson, who was a juvenile at the time of the shooting, pled guilty to second degree murder and received a 25-year sentence. Both were charged in the shooting death of 22-year old Chauncey Shelton, a student and basketball player at Martin Methodist College. The victim was trying to break up a fight when Armstrong gave a gun to Williamson, who then shot Mr. Shelton.
Case 2008-B-1889, September 17, 2009
Defendant - Robert Williams
Verdict: Williams pled guilty to first degree felony murder in the stabbing death of "Good Samaritan" Jerry McEwen. McEwen came to the aid of a woman whose purse had just been stolen by Williams. McEwen chased after Williams, and Williams stabbed him in the chest. Williams will serve a life sentence without the possibility of parole.
Case 2008-B-1791, July 18, 2009
Defendant - Jerome Barrett
Verdict - Guilty of 2nd degree murder, 44-yr sentence.
Barrett was convicted of strangling to death 9-year-old Marcia Trimble in 1975. The girl was delivering Girl Scout cookies when she disappeared. Her body was found several days later. Barrett was linked to her murder through DNA testing. He was sentenced to 44 years for Marcia Trimble's murder, which he will serve consecutive to a life sentence he is already serving for the 1975 murder of Sarah Des Prez.
Case 2008-B-1355, July 7, 2009
Defendant - Kevin Buford, Jr.
Charge: First degree murder, att. especially aggravated robbery
Verdict: Defendant pled guilty to 2nd degree murder, and will serve 40 years at 100%, out of range. Buford admitted to shooting to death Billy Jack Shane Tuders at a Clarksville Pike carwash during a robbery attempt. Buford was 16 y/o at the time of the murder. His co-defendants include his father, uncle, brother, and another man. Their trial dates have not yet been set.
Case 2008-C-3114, June 8, 2009
Defendant - Jason Bobo
Charge: 2x first degree murder, especially aggravated robbery
Verdict: Pled guilty to 2 counts first degree murder. Jason Bobo will serve two back-to-back life sentences without the possibility of parole, after pleading guilty to killing Chris Caris and Joshua Cole as they worked at a Bellacino's restaurant. Both were shot by Bobo, who was a former employee of the store, during a robbery in October 2007.
Case 2008-A-498, June 5, 2009
Defendant - Joshua Bond
Charge: First degree murder
Verdict: Pled guilty to 2nd degree. Joshua Bond pled guilty to the September 2007 shooting death of store clerk Gene Kim. Kim had argued with Bond over a shoplifting incident. Bond left the store, but returned later and shot Kim while he was reading his Bible at the counter. Bond was sentenced to serve 40 year in prison.
Case 2008-A-560, April 30, 2009
Defendant - Rodzell Mason
Charge: First degree murder
Verdict: Pled guilty to 2nd degree murder. Rodzell Mason was a juvenile when he shot and killed Classie Wilson as she worked behind the counter of the Cahal Market in October 2007. Mason was transferred to adult court. As part of his guilty plea, he was sentenced to 35 years in prison.
Case 2008-B-893, May 26, 2009
Defendant - James Coons
Charge: Second degree murder
Verdict: Guilty plea. James Coons was charged with the November 2007 stabbing death of his wife Rebecca, at their apartment on Bell Road in Antioch. Coons pled guilty to second degree murder, and was sentenced to 40 years in prison.
Case 2008-C-2863, May 21, 2009
Defendant - David Kimball
Charge: First degree murder
Verdict: Mistrial. David Kimball is charged in the stabbing death of Eris Bruno inside the O'Charley's restaurant in Hickory Hollow in summer 2008. Testimony at the trial revealed that Kimball had gone into the business to collect a debt from an employee, and got into a fight with Bruno, who also worked at the restaurant but was off-duty. When after several hours of deliberation the jury indicated they would not be able to reach a verdict, the judge declared the mistrial.
Verdict: Guilty. Jason Burdick, who has been dubbed the "Wooded Rapist" was convicted of the 2007 rape of a Donelson woman, who was attacked in her home. Burdick will be sentenced on Juine 10, and faces up to 56 years in prison.Burdick faces additional similar charges in Davidson, Williamson and Wilson counties. The next trial in Davidson County is October 12, 2009.
Case 2007-A-129, February 10, 2009
Defendant - James A. Johnson
Charges: First degree murder (2x), aggravated robbery
Verdict: Guilty. Johnson was convicted of two counts of felony murder and aggravated robbery for the June 18, 2006, shooting deaths of Marcus Edmondson and Ricky McCorkle behind a grocery store on Eighth Ave N and Monroe Street. He faces two life sentences for the murders, in addition to the aggravated robbery, for which he will be sentenced in March 2009.
Case 2007-D-3201, January 30, 2009
Defendant - Jerome Sidney Barrett
Charge - First degree murder.
Verdict: Guilty. Barrett was charged in the 1975 cold case murder of Vanderbilt college student Sarah "Sally" Des Prez. A jury was brought in from Chattanooga to hear the case because of pre-trial publicity about the murder in Nashville. After hearing how DNA from the defendant was found on the victim and under her fingernails, the jury convicted Barrett of first degree murder. Under the 1975 laws that were in place at the time of the murder, Barrett will face life in prison.
A jury convicted Johnson of the above charges, stemming from an October 2006 incident. Johnson, already serving time on other charges, was being treated at Metro General Hospital, when he attacked a sheriff's deputy who was guarding him, and stole her gun. He went on to attack a nurse, and carjack two other people before kidnapping a Hermitage man and forcing him at gunpoint to drive him around for hours. Johnson is currently serving a sentence on other charges. Once that sentence ends in 2020, he will begin serving the time for this most recent conviction. He is scheduled to be sentenced on August 13.
2008-I-683, June 19, 2008
Defendant: Willie Lindsey
Charges: Especially aggravated kidnapping, attempted first degree murder (2 cts), aggravated assault (2 cts)
Willie Lindsey entered a guilty plea to the above charges, in the October 2006 shootings of Metro Police Officer Danita Marsh and Danielle McDowell. As part of the plea agreement, Lindsey was sentenced to 132 years in prison.
2007-D-2738, May 1, 2008
Defendant: Bruce D. Mendenhall
Charge: First Degree Murder
Deputy District Attorney General Tom Thurman announced in court the State's intention to seek the death penalty against Mendenhall. Mendenhall is charged in the June 2007 shooting death of Sara Nicole Hulbert. Mendenhall has also since been charged with murder in other jurisdictions.
2007-C-2367, April 25, 2008
Defendant: Christopher Lee Davis
Charge: First Degree Murder-Felony Murder, Especially Aggravated Attempted Robbery
Senior Assistant District Attorney General Roger Moore announced in court the State's intention to seek the death penalty against Davis. Davis is charged in the June 2007 murder of Herbert Clayton. Davis was charged in that murder, along with 3 co-defendants, James Phillips, Michael Miller and Marcus Bradford. Davis was recently convicted of attempted first-degree murder, aggravated kidnapping, and carjacking in Trousdale County.
2007-B-1224, April 7, 2008
Defendant: Anthony McDowell
Charge: Attempted First Degree Murder
Disposition: The defendent pled guilty and will serve 25 years.
McDowell was charged with shooting his girlfriend in the head while several children were at the residence. The victim was able to recover from her injuries.
2002-B-737-9, April 4, 2008
Defendant: Ruben Martinez
Charge: 5 counts Aggravated Rape
Disposition: The defendant pled guilty to five counts of aggravated rape. Criminal Court Judge Steve Dozier sentenced Martinez to 88 years.
Martinez was on the FBI's Top-10 Most Wanted Fugitive list after raping several women in the south Nashville area in the 1990's, then fleeing to Mexico. He was the first defendant to be extradited from Mexico to Nashville to face his charges. Martinez's co-defendant during some of the attacks had previously received a 60-year sentence for his involvement.
2007-D-3350, February 28, 2008
Defendant: Victor Benitez
Charge: Vehicular Homicide- Intoxication
Disposition: The defendant pled guilty and was sentenced to serve 9 years. There is also an ICE hold placed on him.
Benitez was charged in the June 2007 death of TSU student Joycelyn Gardiner. Benitez ran a red light at the corner of Old Hickory Boulevard and Nolensville road, colliding with Gardiner's car. Ms. Gardiner, who was a member of the Tigerbelle track team and just weeks away from receiving her degree, died from her injuries. Benitez, a native of Mexico, was combative at the crash scene, and had an extreme odor of alcohol about him.
2006-B-1688, February 19, 2008
Defendant: Darryl Moore
Charges: Conspiracy of Controlled Substance Cocaine 300gr or more, Conspiracy of Controlled Substance Marijuana 136,050gr or more, Possession w/Intent to Distribute Cocaine 300gr or more, Possession w/Intent to Distribute Marijuana 31,697-136,050gr, Money Laundering, Felon in Possession of a Weapon
Verdict: Guilty to the Indicted Charges.
Sentence: 93 years.
Darryl Moore was one of nine people arrested following a seven-month investigation into two criminal enterprises responsible for trafficking and distributing tremendous amounts of cocaine and marijuana into the Middle Tennessee area. The investigation by the 20th Judicial District Drug Task Force resulted in the seizure of 1,653 pounds of marijuana, 128 pounds of cocaine, $608,284 in cash, more than 20 vehicles, studio-quality recording equipment, electronics, and varoius home furnishings.
Moore pled to the charges in the indictment, and Criminal Court Judge Cheryl Blackburn sentenced him to a total of 93 years.
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