Grand jury gets home invasions case

Three men charged in a slew of home invasions and robberies that traumatized several older homeowners in the Hixson area had their cases sent Tuesday to the grand jury.

"I thought he was a clean-cut guy and I wasn't afraid of him until he stuck a gun in my face," homeowner Ethel Davidson, 82, told Hamilton County Sessions Court Judge Clarence Shattuck during court testimony.

Police say the three men - Alan Eady, 20; Cordarrius Bonds, 19; and Joshua Daniels, 18 - broke into 10 homes over a 10-day period a few weeks ago.

During a preliminary hearing Tuesday, several victims testified to being surprised in their homes or garages by men wearing ski masks who screamed at them to hand over their money and jewelry.

"I'm going to shoot you. I'm going to kill you. I'm going to kill your wife,'" Ronnie Locke, one of the victims, testified that the robbers told him.

Eady faces 32 counts, including aggravated robbery, aggravated kidnapping, aggravated burglary, felony theft, felony vandalism and felony possession of a firearm. Bonds faces 28 counts on the same charges and Daniels faces 18.

Davidson said two men forced their way into her home and pointed a pistol to her head, yelling at her and another woman at the house, Eloise Dodson, to get on the floor.

When Davidson told the men that Dodson, 80, couldn't get on the floor because she was crippled from a stroke, she said one of them threw a couch pillow on the floor and told her to lie on it.

The two woman laid on the floor for an hour before realizing the men had fled the house with Davidson's purse and Dobson's husband's shotgun, she testified.

Another victim, Ziad Keilany, said he was in his backyard watering plants when he saw a man wearing a ski mask come out of a wooded area and walk toward him with a pistol.

Keilany testified that the man demanded cash from Keilany's wallet and asked if there was more money inside. When Keilany said no, the suspect told him he would shoot him if he found a safe inside the house.

Keilany said he begged the suspect not to shoot him because he had a child with cancer he had to take care of, police said.

All three suspects confessed to being involved in the crimes, police said in court.

Daniels' attorney, Benjamin McGowan, said Daniels handled and sold the stolen goods but didn't participate in any of the robberies.

"The only damning evidence there is about Daniels is that he was aware of the robberies," McGowan said in court. "The lion's share of these charges have absolutely no evidence."

Contact Joan Garrett at jgarrett@timesfreepress.com or 423-757-6601.

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