Sadik Spence
A Chattanooga detective said he relied on a cyber firm to help with proof in a murder on Willow Street that went unsolved for many months.
Detective Stephen Bulkley testified in General Sessions Court on Tuesday that the finding from Cybercheck was part of what led him to charge Sadik Spence with the murder of 20-year-old Omar Escobar on Sept. 27, 2021.
Judge Lila Statom bound the case to the Grand Jury on a first-degree murder charge and declined to lower the defendant's bond.
The judge said it was totally a circumstantial case, but she said it was telling that Spence had lied about owning a distinctive yellow/green hoodie that the shooter was said to be wearing.
Detective Bulkley said video from several locations showed a younger black male wearing the bright hoodie walking from the vicinity of Highland Park along a route leading by the murder scene at 500 N. Willow, then walking away.
A witness told of seeing a man in a bright hoodie armed with a short-barreled rifle leaving the scene, where the victim had been made to lie down and was shot multiple times in the head. He was dead by the time police arrived.
Ammunition found at the scene was the type used in an AK-type weapon, it was stated.
Detective Bulkley said other detectives told him about using Cybercheck, so he submitted information about the case as well as three suspects, including Spence.
He said the firm returned a match of over 98 percent that Spence was at the murder scene at the time of the crime. He said the firm uses Artificial Intelligence (AI) to analyze cyber "hand shakes" that can help pinpoint a person's location at a specific time.
He said Cybercheck officials said the various electronic devices that people use leave a trail behind that can be analyzed.
The witness said Cybercheck declares that it would take 200 trained investigators a couple hundred years to come up with the data that the firm can quickly bring up.
Detective Bulkley said Spence became a suspect after a citizen pointed out to an officer a Facebook photo of Spence "flipping a bird" and wearing a bright yellow/green hoodie.
The detective said he did not immediately interview Spence after getting that information because he got involved in other murder cases. When he finally did, he said Spence at first denied owning such a hoodie, but acknowledged he did after being shown the Facebook photo.
He said Spence was asked to turn over the hoodie, but never did.
A defendant who was recently in court was wearing the same type hoodie, it was stated.
Detective Bulkley said he was able to contact the maker of the hoodie and was told only 900 of that type were produced. He said they were sold at one location here - Detours at Hamilton Place Mall. Spence admitted buying it there.
Under questioning from defense attorney Bill Speek, the detective said there are no known ties between Spence and the victim. He said it did not appear to be a robbery since his wallet with money in it was not taken.
Prosecutor Andrew Coyle said a short time after the shooting there was a commotion at a house on nearby Sharp Street as if someone was wanting to get inside. Detective Bulkley said it was found there were cyber ties between Spence and a resident at the house.
Man in the bright hoodie