The mother of murder victim Jasmine Pace testified Monday that she went three different times into the apartment of Jason Chen, who is charged with criminal homicide in the case.
Catrina Pace, at a suppression hearing before Criminal Court Judge Boyd Patterson, said she took some items belonging to Chen, including several electronic devices and a group of notebooks. She said the devices included phones, tablets, an Ipad and a video gaming system, and the notebooks held Chen's bank records and tax returns, among other information.
Ms. Pace said she was desperate to find her missing daughter and felt she was not getting any help from police. She said, "It was all my desperate attempt to find my daughter whatever I had to do." On all the items taken, she said she was looking for clues on Jasmine's whereabouts.
The defense is seeking to rule out certain evidence due to the actions of the mother and other family members.
The body of Jasmine Pace was eventually found along Suck Creek Road stuffed in a suitcase. She had been stabbed 60 times.
Ms. Pace said the disappearance of her daughter came around the same period that her grandmother had died around Thanksgiving 2022.
She said she became concerned when she did not hear from her daughter and she was not responding to calls or texts. She said it was especially surprising because Jasmine was so close to the grandmother.
Ms. Pace said she was aware that her daughter was "getting to know" Chen and had gone on a trip to Chicago with him. She said at the time she did not know where Chen lived.
Ms. Pace said she had the idea to go to Verizon, buy a new phone, and have them transfer Jasmine's phone information to it. It showed that through the MyChevy ap that Jasmine's car was parked at Signal View Apartments on Mountain Creek Road.
She said police were called from the parking lot and an officer took a report and said he would pass it along. But he said he could not go with her for further investigation. She said the officer "seemed uninterested."
The witness said she also reviewed her own phone records and found she had a late night "pin drop" from her daughter from several days earlier that she had not noticed before. It led her to Chen's apartment at 110 Tremont St.
Ms. Pace said she and other family members proceeded there "in the middle of the night" and were let in by a resident. She said they had no idea which unit was Chen's and they began knocking on doors to ask if anyone had seen Jasmine.
The family members included her former husband, Travis Pace, and his girlfriend, daughter Gabby and friend Wayne Tubbs.
She said on the second floor she found a resident who said he had heard next door the voice of a female in distress shouting. He said it was so remarkable that he wrote down a note about it happening at 2:18 a.m.
Ms. Pace said she afterward noted that the "pin drop" from Jasmine came three minutes before the man said he heard the frantic shout.
Ms. Pace said she then went to Chen's unit at #210 and the group got inside the locked door. She believes it was through the use of a credit card.
When the door was open, the witness said she immediately spotted her daughter's travel bag. She said she searched further and, in a desk drawer, found Jasmine's driver's license and credit cards.
She also told of seeing cleaning supplies in the apartment.
Ms. Pace said as soon as the items were found that police were called. She said patrol officers responded and took a report, but "seemed uninterested." She said the officers briefly looked around the unit, saying they could do a "wellness check" but nothing further.
She said after the officers left she went back inside the apartment "looking for evidence to find my daughter." She also went back the next morning. At that time she said at first she waited in the parking area, saying she wanted to confront Chen.
She said he had lied to her when she called to ask about Jasmine's whereabouts.
Scott Bean, step-father of the victim, said the family was "really worried and police weren't doing anything to find her."
He said he did not go initially with the group to the Chen apartment, but he arrived after they were inside. He said, "I'm freaking out when I saw her license and credit cards. My mind was racing."
The witness said it seemed like officers who came to the scene "didn't feel like it was a big deal."
He said he and Jasmine's mother "were looking for answers. We were frantic. We were following every avenue."
Travis Pace, father of Jasmine, said when he got a call from his other daughter saying that Jasmine was missing that he immediately got in his car. He said he went to the scene of where her vehicle was found on Mountain Creek Road. He said they talked to a security guard, but were not allowed to look at footage to see who had dropped off the car.
He said they then went to a nearby Waffle House to regroup. He said while sitting there Ms. Pace said, "Oh, my God, I have a pin drop from her. He said they then headed for the pin drop address of 110 Tremont.
Mr. Pace said the front door to the apartment building was locked, but he got in through the unlocked back door, then let the others in. He joined them in knocking on doors until they learned the location of Chen's unit.
Mr. Pace said he lifted the handle and the door opened. He said he told the others to go down the hall while he went inside. He said he turned on the lights and carefully went through the apartment, not knowing if anyone was inside who might jump out at him.
He said when he had gone in he first saw the travel bag. Then he found the license and the credit cards and put them on top of the desk. He then called 911 and stayed on the line until officers arrived.
He said one of the officers "was rude and disrespectful and immediately began talking over me." He said he became so frustrated with the officer that he walked down the hall.
Mr. Pace said that officer "will have to live with the fact that he could have made a difference" in the search for Jasmine.
Gabby Pace said when she looked in Jasmine's car at the parking lot "it didn't look like Jasmine's car, it was so clean."
She said the family was not aware of any times Jasmine had to where the car was found.
The sister said they were told at the parking lot that "the detective would not come out. It was the weekend."
The witness said when her mother found the pin drop "her face went white."
Attorney Josh Weiss said police who later went to the Chen apartment found a knife on the bed. He said body cam footage from the first two officers at the unit showed the knife was not there at the time of their visit.
Family witnesses denied "planting evidence" at the scene. They said they did not know at the time that Jasmine had been stabbed.
The hearing will continue on March 15 when the officers who had contact with the family will be called to the witness stand.