Khyree Thompson
Verronta Page
Tabitha GarrisonKhyree Thompson fired two shots into Reginald Ballard, showed no remorse for the slaying, and told his acquaintances on a cold February car ride that he would "do his 20 years...if they catch me," one of those friends testified today in Hamilton County Criminal Court.
On the second day of Thompson's murder trial, prosecutors called Verronta Page, who said he, Thompson and Tabitha Garrison conspired to rob Ballard of $4,000 that he received in tax returns in February 2015.
Page said he and Thompson armed themselves with two handguns before driving to the Cascades Motel, where Garrison had instructed them to go through a series of text messages.
Garrison was sitting on a curb outside when they arrived, Page said, then brought them upstairs to Room 48. Earlier that Feb. 19 night, Garrison had left a party in Dayton, Tenn., with Ballard, who booked them a room at Cascades, prosecutors said.
Page said Ballard opened the door for Garrison, who went inside and left it slightly cracked for him and Thompson.
Taking his cue, Thompson rushed into the room, Page said, and immediately pointed his 9-mm gun in Ballard's face.
"Thompson was saying, 'Get the money, little homie,'" Page told jurors. "I get scared, spooked. I didn't want to do it no more. I could see them fighting for the gun, so I run out."
"Did you ever fire your [.45-caliber pistol]?" prosecutor Cameron Williams asked.
"No, sir," Page said.
Rex Sparks, a defense attorney for Thompson, told jurors the day before to deeply examine everyone's motives for testifying. He questioned Page's involvement, suggesting that he pulled the trigger instead of Thompson.
"Isn't it true that you went in and shot Reginald Ballard in the chest?" he asked.
"That is not true," Page said.
"You're not above lying to help yourself out?" he asked.
"No, sir," Page said.
"You say at the moment you have not cut a deal with the state," Sparks said.
"That is correct," Page said.
"But in fact," Sparks said, "once you testify today they will offer you a deal."
Page balked, saying he had never been in trouble before this incident. Records show he and Garrison face first-degree felony murder and attempted especially aggravated robbery charges in connection with Ballard's slaying. They are both on the state's witness list.
During his cross examination, Sparks also asked about Ballard's condition when Page, Garrison and Thompson left in a getaway car.
"He was not dead, right?" Sparks asked.
"Correct," Page said.
"You left with your driver and took off," Sparks said. "So, we really don't know what happened in between that point and the early morning hours when the hotel owner found Reginald."
Prosecutors called witnesses the day before who said the shooting probably happened around midnight. The next morning, a hotel manager noticed an open door to Ballard's room around 7 a.m.
As if to address Sparks' point, prosecutors then called James Metcalfe, medical examiner for Hamilton County.
Metcalfe said Ballard was shot twice: Once in the lung, once in the neck. Both shots went straight through the body. And the chest shot was from six inches away.
"Would it be correct to say the cause of death was internal bleeding from that gunshot wound to the chest?" prosecutor Andrew Coyle asked.
Metcalfe agreed, saying that such internal bleeding could cause someone to die in one to two minutes.
Prosecutors said they will probably finish presenting their case before 4 p.m.
At that time, Thompson's defense can present its own proof.