Jury convicts Christopher Parker of murder, judge sentences him to life behind bars

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Jurors have convicted Christopher Parker of first-degree murder in the 2014 slaying of Robert McClure.

Judge Barry Steelman sentenced him to life in prison.

Because the 26-year-old faced no other charges, he will not be sentenced at any later date.

Parker was accused of shooting and killing a man inside his trailer in February 2014.

After four days on the case, jurors heard closing arguments in Hamilton County Criminal Court while Christopher Parker sat between his defense attorneys in a crisp black suit.

Prosecutors have said Parker showed off a stolen gun to friends, then took two people down to Robert McClure's trailer, where he picked a fight with the 24-year-old and shot him in the head.

Defense attorney Andrew Basler urged jurors to acquit his client, who faces first-degree murder, of a lesser charge.

The facts, Basler said, depicted a man strung out on meth, his usage escalating and worse than it had ever been. He cited John Standridge, a clinical expert on addiction, saying chronic meth users get psychosis, suffer from delusion of paranoia and act recklessly.

Parker didn't only steal a gun; he grabbed a laptop, Basler said. And one of his two friends, Andrew Biro, also brought a firearm to the crime scene.

Unlike Parker, though, Biro's clothing wasn't tested for gunshot residue at the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation, Basler said.

He also referenced testimony from Jacob Keel, a third man who went to the crime scene.

His testimony demonstrated that Parker may not have meant to pull the trigger since McClure was bucking against the gun, seemingly unafraid, his system also containing meth, Basler said.

"At the end of the day, if you take what [Keel] tried to show us, we don't know that it was knowing or intentional," Basler said. "It comes down to what happened in those last few seconds."

During his final approach to jurors, prosecutor Lance Pope said he would methodically unravel the defense's claims.

First off, Biro's clothing was never sent to the TBI for testing because the state wouldn't waste resources on a man who was never seen shooting a gun, Pope said.

Second, Pope said, jurors needed to remember the testimony of Steven Cogswell, the county's deputy medical examiner who said McClure died from a single gunshot that Parker fired from inches away.

"[Parker's] gun has multiple safety mechanisms," Pope said. "It's specifically designed to prevent it from being fired unless you pull the trigger. McClure didn't buck up against that gun. Christopher Parker put the gun up to his head and pulled the trigger."

Furthermore, Pope said, intoxication was also a factor, but not when evidence showed that Parker had the mental ability to form a plan.

Pope pointed to a text message from 3:24 p.m. on Feb. 1, about two hours before the homicide: "We goin to get Rob for everything he got."

After the homicide, Parker threatened Keel and Biro, Pope said. Then he found the phone he'd been exchanging text messages with, deleted those messages, and destroyed the phone, Pope added.

Finally, the prosecutor replayed a jailhouse call in which Parker outlined an attempt to intimidate Biro into not testifying. While the tape played, Pope stared directly at Parker, then turned back to the jury.

"What's so interesting about that attempt by Mr. Parker to derail these proceedings, is that it's the exact same way he acted moment after he killed Robbie Mcclure," he said.

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