Cadedria A. Kirkwood
A woman told police she was robbed of $10,000 by her brother's girlfriend at a Chattanooga motel.
Cadedria A. Kirkwood, 26, has been charged with aggravated robbery that occurred at the Baymont, 7017 Shallowford Road.
Police were called to a room at the Baymont at 2:20 a.m. on Sunday, Aug. 18. A woman there told police she heard a knock at her door and when she opened it, three black males, wearing all black clothing, including ski masks, walked into the room armed with handguns and demanded, "Where the sh** at?" The woman said she asked them, "What sh**?"
She said the men then began to search the room looking for what the woman told police was $10,000. She told police the money was on the bed, so she got on the bed and began to yell at the men. She said one of the men also got on the bed and noticed a pouch of money, which he then grabbed.
The woman said she grabbed the pouch from the man, but another of the men pistol whipped her and took the pouch from her.
The men then fled the room with the money, while being chased by the woman and another woman. She said the men got into a silver Jeep, but later corrected that to a silver SUV.
Police reviewed video footage from the hotel and saw at 1:14 a.m. several people, wearing all back, walk towards the woman's hotel room door. Police said the three appeared to be one black female and two black males. The woman appeared to be about 5'6" with a mask and all black clothing; one man appeared to be in his 20s, about 5'5", wearing a black mask, black clothing and armed with a handgun; the other man appeared to be in his 20s, about six feet tall, wearing a black mask, black top and jeans and armed with a handgun.
The video showed the woman knock on the door and, when the door is opened, the men forced themselves into the room. About a minute later, the three came running out of the door and left toward the Staybridge hotel. This is where the victim told police she saw them getting into a silver Jeep (later determined to be an SUV). The victim said she thought it could be a Nissan Rouge, possibly a 2014 style.
Police checked the hotel video from about 12:30 a.m. to see if there was any suspicious activity recorded. At 12:59 a.m., police observed a Chevy Equinox, approximate 2014 style, enter the parking lot and leave around 1:07 a.m. Police checked other cameras to follow that vehicle. The vehicle ended up backing into a space in the back of the parking lot. Police observed two black females get out of the car, as well as one person with a hood over his head. The driver of the vehicle appeared to be a black female wearing a black short-sleeved shirt. The two women who got out of the vehicle were seen walking the bottom level of the hotel. They passed the victim's room and continued toward the front of the hotel. They then went to the stairwell and walked on the top deck back to the Chevy Equinox. The women entered the vehicle and then left. The women are seen talking on their cell phones while they were walking around the hotel.
Police showed the victim the video and asked if she knew any of the people. She identified one woman as Ms. Kirkwood, and said she was her brother's girlfriend. She told police that she was at the hotel earlier in the night to get money to put on her brother's jail books. She said she gave her $100. She said the other person is Ms. Kirkwood's sister, "Pumpkin." She did not know her real name.
Police noted the vehicle the people were in appeared to have five people. The victim said the silver Chevy Equinox (2013-2016) in the video looks like the vehicle the people ran to after the robbery. She told police she had recently gotten her tax refund back, which is why she had the $10,000.
Police located Ms. Kirkwood on Aug. 24 and asked her about the night of the robbery. She told police on that night, she was at the Baymont hotel around 9 p.m. to get money to put on a friend's jail books. She said she went there alone, came home and put the money into his account. She said she then went home and waited for her friend "Janay" to come get her. She said she does not know the last name of her friend. She said she was picked up in a Chrysler 300, but it wasn't running right, so they called an Uber to take them to meet up with a friend of "Janay's." She said they drove to the Baymont in a silver SUV and got out to try and find the friend "Janay" was going to meet up with. She said he texted them and told them he wasn't there, so they got into the silver SUV and left. She said she was at the Baymont those two times.
She told police she then went to the BP that was close to the area to meet up with the friend of "Janay's" and then came home. Police showed her a picture of "Janay" from Facebook and she told police that was the friend, and the one showing in a still from the video of the Baymont footage.
Police reviewed the footage from the Baymont again and it showed when Ms. Kirkwood and "Janay" went back to the vehicle around 1:05 a.m., that the person in the back seat who gets out of the vehicle appears to be wearing the same jacket and headwear police observed the man entering the victim's hotel room and committing the robbery was wearing. Police also checked Ms. Kirkwood's alibi and do not believe she went to the BP as she stated. Police checked cameras in the area and other hotel cameras, and believe she lied about that.
After investigation of all video footage, police determined they have evidence enough to charge Ms. Kirkwood and "Janay" with aggravated robbery or facilitation of aggravated robbery.