Jalen Little
Zachary Chadwick pled guilty to facilitation of first-degree murder in the March 11, 2017 homicide of Jalen Little.
Assistant District Attorney Andrew Coyle said Chadwick was the co-defendant of Jacob Coyne, who was convicted of felony murder back in February.
In the plea agreement, Chadwick also pled guilty to facilitation of especially aggravated robbery.
The sentences for the two offenses will be served concurrently.
Judge Tom Greenholtz gave Chadwick an effective sentence of 15 years in prison.
An autopsy report said 19-year old Jalen Little was shot an estimated 14 times in a drug deal gone bad in Hixson on March 12, 2017. The teen died after being rushed from his driveway to a local hospital.
The victim gave the name of Zachary Adam Chadwick to police just before he died.
Chadwick, also 19, said it actually was 21-year-old Jacob Evan Coyne who fired the shots. Witnesses agreed that Coyne was the gunman.
The victim had bullet wounds to the upper right arm, upper right chest, two in the groin area, one in the right knee and another in the left knee.
There were two shots to the upper left arm, several to the buttocks area, upper left leg and upper right leg.
Chattanooga Police officers responded at 9:57 p.m. to 820 Oak Tree Dr. to investigate reports of a person shot.
Responding officers found the victim lying in the driveway with multiple bullet wounds.
Police said, just before he was rushed to the hospital, he made "a dying declaration stating he was shot by Zachary Chadwick."
Chadwick told police that earlier in the day he had given Little $960 to purchase marijuana. He said Little never returned with the marijuana or the money.
He said he and Coyne then discussed finding him and getting the money back. He said they took a gun with them "just in case they needed it."
Chadwick said they found Little at his residence standing in the driveway. He said they approached him and began to question him about the money.
He said Little had a large sum of money in his hand when Coyne opened fire, striking him multiple times.
Chadwick, who lives at 1369 Meadowwood Dr. in Hixson, said Coyne retrieved some of the money dropped by the victim when he fell. He said as they ran back to their vehicle that Coyne threw him a crumpled up $20 bill and stated, "I wasn't able to get back all your money, but here's $20."