Toddie Woods
A man who fired 15 shots into the door of a room at the Douglas Heights Apartments, killing one person and injuring two others, has pleaded guilty to lesser charges.
Toddie Woods, 29, had been charged with first-degree murder and two counts of attempted first-degree murder.
He pled guilty to second-degree murder and two counts of attempted second-degree murder.
Woods got 20 years for the murder and a concurrent eight years each for the attempted murder.
Woods has been taken into custody to begin serving the sentence. He has been out on bond in the case that happened in May 2020.
Video was earlier played in court of Woods firing 15 shots into the door of Room 240 at the UTC apartments after he and others in his group were not allowed into a party.
Several people were on the other side of the door trying to block it and a number of others were inside the units near the UTC campus. After the shooting was over, Rigoberto Jarquin lay dead on the apartment floor with multiple gunshot wounds. Jose Garcia-Lopez had a gunshot wound to the shoulder and Miguel Pimentel was hit in the thigh.
The video shows one group of about a dozen individuals outside the apartment. Toddie Woods was halfway in at one point, but he was pushed back and hit in the face with a bottle. With him were Hyacinth Taylor and his brother, Omerrieal Woods, who also faced charges in the case.
The group is shown starting to leave. Toddie Woods, who now had his shirt off. had started down the hall. The video shows Taylor leaving and then returning. A gun is handed to Omerrieal Woods, who hands it off to his brother. It was stated that Taylor apparently had the gun the whole time and, after getting to the elevator with it, he decided to come back.
Toddie Woods began to walk away with other members of his group when he suddenly reversed and stormed back toward the room. He ran into a couple of members of his group in doing so.
He is shown in front of the door repeatedly firing the handgun.
It was testified that Woods and others in his group had first met up with the Hispanic group at a convenience store on Rossville Boulevard. Several in the group said an Hispanic woman had invited them to a party at the Douglas Heights.
Jose Garcia-Lopez said he had been invited to a bar in Chattanooga by a female, and he and a friend drove up. He said the group of about a dozen, including three females, then went to Douglas Heights. He said a resident let them in and they went to a pool area.
He said the other group then came into the pool area, and Toddie Woods went up to one of the females and said, "I have a long dick if you want to see it." He said that caused a confrontation between some in his group and the Woods group. He said Omerrieal Woods came up to where it was going on and identified himself as the brother.
The witness said his group decided to leave the pool to avoid getting in a fight. He said they were followed and barely made it to the elevator. They then went to Room 240 and soon noticed they were being followed. He told of fighting to keep Toddie Woods out of the room and of trying to find something that could be used to wedge the door.
He said he was still near the door when the shots rang out. He said when they were over he saw that he had been shot in the shoulder and his shirt was covered in blood. He also looked over to see his friend dead on the floor. He said the bullet is still in his shoulder because he was told it was too risky to try to take it out. He said at first his left arm was numb, but he has gradually regained feeling in it except for his palm and a couple of fingers.
The prosecution said Toddie Woods was irate about being hit in the face with the bottle, but could have quit shooting at any time instead of firing 15 shots.