Speedway gas station video footage shows that Gary Cross was the driver of the gray Chrysler Voyager minivan recorded onsite at the fatal shooting of Tracy Calloway in July 2019, said Chattanooga Police Department Detective James Goehring.
Det. Goehring testified in court Wednesday that Cross is plainly shown in gas station checkout counter video footage hours before the shooting. The checkout counter video clock and the parking lot video clock match to show Cross visiting the gas station twice in the minivan, once alone and once with the driver of a Kia Forte, the second car at the scene of the murder.
Cross is shown on video driving and parking the minivan at the gas station, entering and exiting the convenience store, making purchases at the counter, and talking with the Forte driver by the cars.
Defense attorney Melody Shekari asked if Det. Goehring had used any birthmarks, tattoos or credit card transaction records to identify Cross.
“I just used his face itself,” said Det. Goehring.
The driver of the Forte has been granted immunity by former District Attorney Neal Pinkston in exchange for giving the names of the three people in the minivan recorded at the shooting on Trailwood Drive off Highway 58. The shooting was recorded by a neighbor’s security camera.
Three more suspects are due to be tried in April.
The Forte and the minivan are recorded driving together one hour before the shooting on a public safety camera on Kent Drive, which Det. Goehring said he used to get and track the Forte’s license plate number.
Det. Goehring said Cross’s Sprint prepaid mobile phone number was traced to be in communication with two other suspects in the shooting.
Attorney Shekari clarified that Det. Goehring could not identify any of the suspects inside the moving cars caught on video. Ms. Shikari also clarified that Cross’s phone was not recovered, and that Det. Goehring had not checked if there is more than one Gary Cross with a Sprint prepaid phone in Chattanooga.
Tennessee Bureau of Investigation special agent forensic scientist Savannah Houk testified that she analyzed 64 shell casings from the scene of the shooting and found that two 7.62 semi-automatic rifles and one .40-caliber pistol, all Smith and Wesson, were used in the murder.
The Chrysler minivan was recovered two days after the shooting on Waterfield Lane near the Trailwood site of the shooting. The person in possession of the van was ruled out as a suspect, Det. Goehring said.
Cross is charged with first-degree murder, criminal conspiracy, unlawful possession of a firearm by a convicted felon, possession of a firearm during the commission of a felony, and reckless endangerment.