A Criminal Court jury on Friday morning found Charles Nash guilty of first-degree murder in the slaying of 58-year-old Ok-Hui Brown in St. Elmo.
Nash was sentenced to life in prison by Judge Don Poole immediately after the jury returned at 9:10 a.m. Nash, who was 19 at the time of the murder on Feb. 25, 2006, must serve at least 51 years before he is eligible for parole.
He was found guilty both of premeditated murder and felony murder as well as especially aggravated robbery. He will be sentenced by Judge Poole on the robbery on Dec. 18. The range is 15-25 years.
The jury had deliberated for two and a half hours on Thursday, then stopped for the night around 7 p.m. in the Okie Dokie Market murder case.
Nash told investigators on a recording played in court Wednesday that he robbed the store, but did not mean to kill the owner. Nash on Thursday chose not to testify.
After closing arguments, Judge Poole instructed the jurors that Nash’s choice to not testify cannot be used in any way to influence their verdict. It is the duty of the state, the judge said, to prove guilt and Nash does not have to prove his innocence.
Earlier in the day, prosecuting attorneys put several forensic experts on the witness stand to link the defendant to the crime scene.
Special Agent Michael Turbeville from the TBI Crime Lab said that DNA samples taken from the mouth of a bottle of water the defendant says he purchased at the store and left at the scene matched the DNA of Nash. Also, blood found on Nash’s jeans matched the DNA of the victim.
Special Agent James Russell Davis testified that gunshot primer residue was found on Nash’s shirt, jeans and shoes. He explained that gunshot primer residue would only be found on someone who had fired a gun or been in close proximity to a fired gun.
Dr. Amy McMaster, deputy chief medical examiner for Davidson County, performed the autopsy on the victim’s body and testified that the cause of death was multiple gunshot wounds. Dr. McMaster said five entry and five exit wounds were found on the body.
The order in which the wounds were inflicted was impossible to determine, she said. The mortal wounds were the three shots that entered from the back. A frontal wound in the abdomen and another in the left elbow were also found.
Two of the wounds from the back pierced the victim’s heart and lungs and broke several ribs as they traveled across the body from the upper right back to the upper left front before exiting the body. One projectile was found in the victim's clothing and another was found on the floor at the scene.
Special Agent Steve Scott from the TBI Crime Lab testified of examining and comparing the cartridges found at the scene with an unfired cartridge at Nash’s apartment. The unfired cartridge bore the same extraction marks found on the cartridges from the scene indicating, he said, that the unfired cartridge had been extracted from the gun used in the murder.
In closing statements, Neal Pinkston for the state told the jury that the defendant killed the victim, the killing was done in perpetration of a robbery, and the robbery was accomplished. That, he said, is enough for a first-degree felony murder.
Nash’s attorney, Dan Ripper, in his closing statement asked the jury not to get wrapped up in the emotion that the prosecuting attorneys used in opening statements about Mr. and Mrs. Brown living their dream or even in the state’s theory of his client shooting Mrs. Brown in the back as she lay on the floor.
Attorney Ripper said he has never made any claim that his client was not involved in the crime. “Justice,” he said to the jury, “requires that you listen to the judge’s instructions.” He said he believes that second-degree murder or even reckless homicide are more appropriate findings.
Dana Wilbourn
dbwilbourn@yahoo.com