Medical Examiner Says Knives Were On The Floor When Keiara Patton Was Shot

Hamilton County Chief Medical Examiner Dr. James Metcalfe said he believes the two knives found at the scene of Keiara Patton’s slaying were already on the floor when the victim was shot on May 13, 2014.

On Wednesday, during the second day of trial for Taylor Satterfield, who is charged with first-degree murder, Dr. Metcalfe appeared in Judge Don Poole’s courtroom as a state witness. He told the jury that blood spatters at the scene of the slaying, as well as on the victim’s own hand, made it appear as if Ms. Patton had stayed conscious and standing for a moment after being shot in the head.

Following this, the witness said it seemed that the two kitchen knives found near Ms. Patton’s body were on the floor prior to her injury. He told the jury that blood splatter patterns and droplets of blood on the handles of the knives would have been unlikely to appear if the knives had not already been on the floor before the shooting.

“You’d have to postulate that she dropped the knife in a split second and then for the blood to fall on it after that … that the knife made it to the floor before the blood hit it,” he said. “You’d have to postulate that she lost voluntary movement right about (then), but you know that she’d got enough voluntary movement during the bleeding to get splatter on the back of her hand.”

He said it was a less likely scenario that Ms. Patton was holding the knives when she was shot, though the defense claims that the victim was charging the defendant with a knife in each hand when a gun in his possession accidentally went off, resulting in Ms. Patton’s death.

Dr. Metcalfe also identified stippling during an examination of Ms. Patton’s body, indicating that the muzzle of the gun was about two feet away from the victim’s head at the time of the shooting.

Other witnesses, such as Investigator Greg Mardis of the Chattanooga Police Department, were called to the stand to identify evidence. Officer Mardis spoke to the jury about the discovery of a .40 caliber handgun located in a rain drain next to a vehicle previous witnesses had said the defendant was driving on the day of the slaying.

During his testimony, the prosecution played a video from the initial investigation which showed the bloody scene inside Ms. Patton’s apartment. A number of family members left the courtroom in tears.

One photo displayed showed a set of keys found near the victim’s body on the kitchen floor. A plastic key ring charm bore the words, “A girl who wants a future should avoid a guy with a past.”

Officer Kendra Adams of the Chattanooga Police Department said when she arrived at College Hill Courts on the morning of the slaying, “it was very chaotic.”

She said the kitchen where she found Ms. Patton “was a mess,” and “it looked like the stove had been knocked to the side.” The witness said she did not remember seeing Kimberly Bell, who testified Tuesday about staying with the victim until EMS arrived.

Officer Adams said later on the same day she reported to Erlanger Hospital and located the defendant, Ms. Patton’s boyfriend and the father of her two children. The witness said she put Satterfield into handcuffs for both his and her safety.

“A lady at the time I didn’t know charged at us and started trying to hit him,” she said, going on to state that she learned from Satterfield that the woman was the victim’s grandmother.

Officer Adams told defense attorney Coty Wamp that though the defendant had appeared upset, he was cooperative and “seemed very concerned about the status of (Ms. Patton).” During the interview with police, the witness said Satterfield was at times hysterical and crying.