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Defense questions DNA evidence in ongoing Cortez Sims trial

Cortez Sims walks into Judge Barry Steeleman's courtroom at the start of his trial on Tuesday.
Cortez Sims walks into Judge Barry Steeleman's courtroom at the start of his trial on Tuesday. Cortez Sims walks into Judge Barry Steeleman's courtroom at the start of his trial on Tuesday.

By Zack Peterson 2 min read

Defense attorneys pushed back this morning in a 2015 murder trial, saying no DNA evidence connects their 19-year-old client to the crime scene.

“There was no science relating Cortez Sims to anything you received, is that correct?” defense attorney Clancy Covert asked Tennessee Bureau of Investigation agent Charly Castelbuono.

“That’s correct,” Castelbuono said.

Police say Sims opened fire inside a College Hill Courts apartment on Jan. 7, 2015, and killed one, injured two, and paralyzed a toddler from the waist down.

Police sent DNA swabs from victims Bianca Horton and her child, Zoey Duncan, to the TBI. None of their samples returned a hit on the DNA swab they also collected from Sims, Castelbuono said.