Samuel Askins
A 16-year-old testified in General Sessions Court of a night of shooting up houses and one murder.
The young witness said he and two other 16-year-olds were given guns by 19-year-old Samuel Askins to "shoot up some houses." He said Askins was seeking revenge after his mother had been shot.
Judge Lila Statom bound Samuel Askins to the Grand Jury on charges of first-degree murder and criminal conspiracy in the case in which 48-year-old Warren "Kojack" Crutcher was killed on Aug. 29. The total bond for Samuel Askins is $3.5 million.
His brother, 20-year-old Caleb Askins, has a $750,000 bond on a charge of criminal conspiracy. The 16-year-old said Caleb Askins stayed home that night and moved around his brother's GPS monitoring band to make it look like he had an alibi. He said Samuel Askins took off the band prior to their leaving.
The witness said Samuel Askins named a person he believed responsible for his mother's shooting, and they set out to shoot up houses of the enemy's family members.
He said Samuel Askins "was pretty upset that his mother had been shot."
He said they first went in the Askins' black Nissan to where they had a stolen car stored at the Hidden Acres apartments on Hixson Pike. He said they switched to that black Audi and took the guns with them. He said Samuel Askins was driving and he was in the front seat with the two other teens in the back seat.
They first went to a house on Webb Street believed to be that of the enemy's mother. The witness said Samuel Askins hopped out with a gun and the other two teens also fired at the house.
Shots were fired at a residence on Noah Reid Road - identified as the home of the enemy's "father's baby mama." Then they headed for 31 Maryland St., where more family members were suppose to be.
The 16-year-old witness said as they arrived Warren Crutcher was sitting on the front porch appearing to be reading his phone. He said one of the back seat passengers began firing toward the house, then Samuel Askins reached behind the front seat passenger head rest and shot through the open rear window. He said he first thought the fatal bullet was fired by one of the teens, but later felt it came from the Askins gun. He said he did not know for sure.
The witness said after the slaying that he fired two shots from the front passenger seat that went into the side of the Crutcher house. Inside were Mr. Crutcher's mother and sister and two children.
He did remember seeing Mr. Crutcher slump to the floor before they sped off and went to again swap cars. Police said they were alerted to the group after a citizen told of seeing four people wearing ski masks exit the stolen car.
The witness said they were at a gas station on Gunbarrel Road a few hours after the shooting in the early morning when police stopped them. He said they tried to run, but were caught.
A detective said it was found that the cell phone used by the witness that night pinged on towers all along the shooting route that he described.
There was also a transcript of texting in which the witness was giving a detailed account of the shootings to Caleb Askins.
One text said they had just taken out the enemy's cousin.
Caleb Askins