Deddrick Middlebrooks
A man who said he was robbed outside the Chili's on Brainerd Road, then chased down the suspect and was shot, said he is now partially blind from the incident.
The victim testified that the bullet from the Sept. 14 incident went into his right temple and exited through his left eye. He said the optic nerve was damaged. He said, "I have been told I probably will not regain my sight in that eye."
It was also testified that as the victim and his girlfriend chased after the suspect a dispatcher advised them to go back to Chili's and file a police report.
General Sessions Court Judge Lila Statom bound charges to the Grand Jury against Deddrick Middlebrooks, 21, and raised his bond from $525,000 to $725,000. He is charged with attempted first-degree murder, reckless endangerment and a gun charge in the incident at the Highlands Apartments on South Lyerly Street.
The victim said he had met Middlebrooks about six months earlier on Rossville Boulevard and learned that he sometimes sold tools. He said he was interested because of the high price of new tools. He said he bought an air compressor and some air hoses from Middlebrooks on that occasion.
He said they agreed to meet again outside Chili's and he was to pay $700 for some tools. He said he walked over to Middlebrooks' white SUV, they exchanged pleasantries, and he counted out the $700.
The victim said he got into his 1993 GMC Sonoma to get the keys to his tool box, then he saw Middlebrooks speed off. He took off after him.
He said the chase lasted anywhere from 5-14 minutes. He said at one point he caught up with the vehicle, then Middlebrooks brake checked him, and they collided. He was still behind the white SUV when Middlebrooks, who was also accompanied by a girlfriend, pulled into the Highland Apartments and ran up the stairs.
He said he ran up the stairs himself and started down a hallway. He said there was an open door at the first unit on the right and he saw Middlebrooks holding a gun with both hands. The witness said, "He was in shooting formation. His arms were out and his legs were spread."
The victim said Middlebrooks started shooting at him and he was soon hit. He said, "My ears were ringing and I could no longer see." He said he does not remember what happened after that.
His girlfriend said the two men seemed to have a pleasant conversation at the car, but when the other vehicle left quickly her boyfriend said, "This guy just took our money" and began following him.
She said she was on the line with a 911 operator who recommending stopping the pursuit, but she said the boyfriend "was in a rage. He just kept following the person."
The girlfriend said after the boyfriend ran up the apartment steps "I heard shots - quite a few. I'd say at least six."
She found him standing on the top stairs leaning over the balcony with his head in his hands. He was bleeding profusely from the head.
A woman in a nearby apartment said she heard 3-4 very loud noises and went out to see a man who had been shot in the head. "Blood was flowing down his face. He kept saying he couldn't see," she said.
The woman said she ended up with two bullet holes in her unit. One shot went through the front door into the ceiling, and another went through an outside wall and came to rest in a bookcase.
Prosecutors confirmed there is a video of the confrontation at Chili's. Attorney Gerald Webb said he believes "it will shed greater light" on the incident.
Middlebrooks was on bond for two sets of cases in Criminal Court - a gun case and charges of selling fentanyl and cocaine.