A prosecutor told a Criminal Court jury on Tuesday afternoon that evidence points to Gabriel Boykins as the killer of 40-year-old Tamara Church and her eight-year-old daughter, Aquarious.
Prosecutor Aaron Chaplin said a man appearing to be Boykins was seen on video walking from the scene of Ms. Church's burning van - near where the bodies were located on July 9, 2020. That was some seven weeks after they were reported missing. He said, "People who have known him all his life say that's him."
Ms.
Church was staying with Boykins, 49, at the time and she earlier had a child with him, the prosecutor said.
He said an examination of Boykins' computer showed him looking up ways to get out of town and another search on how to commit suicide. He said Boykins did slit his wrists. Another search, he said, involved a pacemaker at the scene of a crime. He said Boykins has a pacemaker.
The prosecutor also said that Boykins left town right after the bodies were discovered in a wooded section near Pilgrim Missionary Baptist Church on Greenwood Road. He went to Kentucky, then Arkansas and on to Oklahoma. He said Boykins returned to town briefly, then was finally located in Knoxville.
Prosecutor Chaplin said the jury should convict Boykins of two counts of pre-meditated murder and a charge of tampering with evidence.
Attorney Sam Hudson told the jury that there is no direct evidence that Boykins was the person who strangled Ms. Church and hit her and the child in the head with blunt force. He said there was no DNA and no one saw him with the mother and daughter around the time of their deaths. They were last seen on May 17, 2020, and a family member reported them missing two days later.
Attorney Hudson said jeans found near the bodies belonged to Ms. Church and still bore semen stains of another acquaintance, Ulyyses Bradley. Prosecutor Chaplin had said Bradley affirmed he had sex with Ms. Church on the day she disappeared. The prosecutor said Bradley was taller than the man seen in the video leaving the burning van.
The defense attorney said Boykins cooperated with police and told them they could search his home.
Attorney Hudson said Boykins and Ms. Church had not been romantic for a lengthy time. He said she stayed with him at times and on another occasion was with others or in a homeless shelter as she struggled with drug addiction.
The attorney said police had Boykins as a suspect two days into the investigation. He said, "They had their suspect, then they moved on to other cases."
The jury was told there was a meeting of police officers and a dispatcher on the case of the missing females, where it was noted that the phone of Ms. Church had pinged near the church on Greenwood Road just before it went silent.
Homicide Sgt. Matthew Balinger said it was arranged that investigators would do a ground search near the church. He said he parked in front of the church and entered a wooded area, where he located the jeans. He said a shoe was also found nearby that was pushed into the ground.
A skull was then located, and officers began to find bones and a second skull. Sgt. Balinger said cadets from a police academy were brought out to help mark where the items were located and to look for more.
Sgt. Balinger said those working on the missing persons case had at first not connected the burning van with the missing females.
The jury was shown video collected from cameras at Southeast Diesel on S. Orchard Knob Ave. that showed the white van go by near the time of the fire. Sgt. Balinger said it was highly unusual that the business had kept the video. He said, "That's very rare. Usually they keep it 7-30 days."