Stephen Mobley
Stephen Mobley awaits a new court date with his attorney following a hung jury inside Judge Barry Steelman's courtroom in this file photo.For the third time in 11 years, Stephen Mobley stands accused of killing someone.
Two people, this time.
Police believe Mobley shot and killed Jasmine Hines, 22, and Rashaud Taylor, 23, inside a home on Pinewood Avenue early Monday morning.
The 32-year-old already is a convicted killer. In 2007, he pleaded guilty to a charge of involuntary manslaughter in the 2005 shooting death of a 20-year-old man in College Hill Courts. He was sentenced to six years in prison and was released in June 2010, state records show.
Then, Mobley was charged with first-degree murder in the 2012 slaying of Gregory Watkins, but those charges were dismissed in 2015 after a jury could not agree on a verdict.
Now, police are on the hunt for Mobley in connection with Monday's double homicide. He was put on the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation's Top 10 Most Wanted fugitives list Tuesday and is considered armed and dangerous.
Police Chief Fred Fletcher said investigators believe Mobley was at least an acquaintance of Hines and Taylor, and that he shot them because of an "interaction," but he declined to give any details about that encounter because of the ongoing investigation.
A third person was wounded during the attack Monday and survived, but police are not identifying that woman publicly out of concern for her safety.
"We have every reason to believe Mobley shot three people [Monday]," Fletcher said.
While Mobley is a validated gang member, police don't think the double homicide was motivated by a gang dispute.
Fletcher emphasized that Monday's slayings came on the heels of a relatively quiet and safe August, which he said was brought on by a coordinated effort by law enforcement.
Between Aug. 12 and Aug. 20, police made 375 arrests - including 32 gang members - confiscated 12 guns, and brought federal charges in five cases as part of that effort, he said.
Between Aug. 12 and Sunday, four people were wounded in shootings and one man was killed, records show. That was nearly matched in a five-hour span Monday, when two people were wounded and two killed.
Fletcher could not say for sure whether Mobley or the two victims were living in the home at 7458 Pinewood Drive, although he said Mobley may have been staying there.
Neighbors said the home was known as a trouble spot on the street, a place where people sold marijuana and large groups routinely gathered for fights or boxing matches in the yard. Neighbors would sometimes call police when the parties got too loud, or when a bonfire crept too close to the house.
"But nobody has ever gotten shot," one neighbor said. He added that one man who lived in the home was a friendly neighbor, always polite. He said it was normal for 15 or 20 people to show up at the house on any given night.
On Tuesday, the home was still taped off and a single officer sat out front in a patrol car. City code inspectors condemned the building after the slayings, and a big red sign on the door warned everyone to stay out. The quick condemnation is part of a partnership between police and code inspectors to close properties that cause trouble in neighborhoods.
As police hunted for Mobley on Tuesday, friends and family of Hines and Taylor began to mourn and remember the pair. Hines, who went by the name Jane, was an aspiring rapper, while Taylor was a music producer, one friend said.
Taylor was laid back, the friend said, a funny man who tried to keep the peace.
Contact staff writer Shelly Bradbury at 423-757-6525 or sbradbury@timesfreepress.com with tips or story ideas. Follow on Twitter @ShellyBradbury.
Officers responding to 7458 Pinewood Drive said they found two victims, a man and a woman, dead at the scene. Another victim, a woman, was taken to Erlanger hospital. Her condition was not available.