Calvin Yearby testifies Tuesday in the case in which Christopher Walton is charged in the Aug. 25 murder of Jordan Clark. Also shown are attorney Jonathan Turner, Judge David Bales and prosecutor Cameron Williams.
A detective testified Tuesday that a man charged in the "execution" slaying of a rival gang member had a strong smell of bleach on his hands a short time after the Aug. 25 murder of 20-year-old Jordan Clark in East Chattanooga.
Det. Matthew Puglise said Christopher Walton, 20, still had bleach stains. He said Walton said he had been doing laundry at the home of his sister at The Villages at Alton Park.
It was testified that up to 38 shell casings were found near the scene of the murder and that the shooter fired two more shots into his body as he lay dying on the Willow Street sidewalk.
General Sessions Court Judge David Bales set the bond for Walton at $1,350,000, while saying "the good people of Chattanooga" are going to have to "rise up" against gangs.
He said of the shots fired from a white PT Cruiser at the dying Clark, "Talk about cowardice. Talk about sickness. He was shot down like a dog."
Judge Bales said, "It is going to be the death of this community if we don't bust up these gangs."
He told Walton he would take away his phone privileges and put him in isolation "if I hear of any of your gang-banging buddies" going after any of the witnesses.
Det. Puglise said the shooting apparently related to an ongoing feud between the Bloods and the Crips. He said that warfare continued this past weekend with a rash of more shootings.
According to testimony, the Clark slaying may have been related to Walton getting his car shot up the previous night while staying with Tashayla Yearby. Her residence was also riddled with bullets while she and Walton were inside. She moved out the next day.
That shooting came a short time after a 14-year-old was hit by a bullet in a shooting that police said involved Nicholas Yearby, a cousin of Ms. Yearby.
A woman who was eight months pregnant said she was on her porch crocheting a blanket for the daughter she is expecting when she said Clark and Tavoris McKeldin walked by. She then saw a white PT Cruiser approaching.
She said she saw a hand holding a gun reach out the rear window of the vehicle, then bullets began flying.
The witness said Clark dropped to the sidewalk, then the PT Cruiser pulled next to him and he was shot twice more.
The woman earlier said the driver had dreads and dark skin and the person in the back had on a red shirt. At the hearing, she did not recall those matters. It was testified that Clark was dressed in all blue.
She said she went down to where the victim was lying and saw him take his last breaths. She said it made her so distraught that she had to go to the hospital for treatment of shock.
McKeldin said when he spotted the PT Cruiser he thought it was one owned by his grandmother. He said at that time Clark handed him a gun and he put it in his pants to hide it from the grandmother. But he said it turned out that the vehicle, that approached from Citico Avenue. was not the grandmother's.
Shots began to ring out, and he and Clark started sprinting away. He said Clark was just ahead of him when he dropped near a fence gate. McKeldin said he jumped over the fence.
McKeldin said, after he was hit, Clark screamed his nickname "Oshay" and told him, "It's too late."
Calvin Yearby, uncle of Teshayla Yearby, said he went over to her unit at East Lake Courts after it had been shot up.
He said that morning, and after the shooting on Willow Street, he saw Walton in his niece's white PT Cruiser. The vehicle was found later that night at Calvin Yearby's residence on the West Side.
A witness at the shooting scene followed the PT Cruiser as far as the Brainerd Tunnel and got the tag number. That led police to Ms. Yearby.
A man at a nearby residence said he heard what he first thought were firecrackers, then realized it was gunfire. He said a bullet came into his house and grazed his back before going into a wall. He directed his wife and four children to hit the floor.
Det. Puglise said the mass of shell casings found at the scene came from three handguns.
He said officers found the gun that Clark had handed to McKeldin, who said it fell out of his pants as he was running away.
The defense attorney pointed to Calvin Yearby as a possible suspect, saying he was the one found with the PT Cruiser. He said he had been upset about the attack on his niece.