Sequestered Chattanooga Jury To Decide Infamous Middle Tennessee State Murder Case During Trial In Murfreesboro
Tuesday, May 08, 2012
- by Judy Frank
The question at the heart of a highly publicized case involving the violent 2011 slaying of a Memphis woman at the hands of her roommate at Middle Tennessee State University – was it self-defense, or murder? – will be decided by a Chattanooga jury.
Court officials from Murfreesboro spent Tuesday here picking the jury, which then departed for the Middle Tennessee community where it will be sequestered for the duration of the trial.
The case, which has drawn international attention, involved two female graduates of Central High in Memphis who wound up at the Murfreesboro college as scholarship students - and roommates.
That relationship came to an end on March 2, 2011, when MTSU junior basketball player Tina Stewart was stabbed to death by 18-year-old choir member and criminal justice major, MTSU freshman Shanterrica Madden.
Police discovered Ms. Stewart’s body on the floor of her bedroom while responding to an anonymous 911 call. After her roommate had been questioned for 90 minutes, court documents show, she admitted she had stabbed the other woman and wrote out a two-page confession.
The trial is scheduled to get underway Wednesday morning in Murfreesboro.