When Ryan Barrett was living with a man who would later be accused of murder, it came to a point when he locked and blocked his bedroom door before “sleeping with one eye open.”
Barrett, 23, was roommates with Jason Chen, 24, for nearly two years while they both attended college at the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga, he said during an interview.
Chen is accused of fatally stabbing 22-year-old Jasmine Pace and disposing of her body in the Tennessee River, stuffed in a suitcase. His first-degree murder trial starts Monday.
In August 2020, Barrett’s relationship with Chen began. It was actually a good one at first, Barrett said.
He and two other men were randomly assigned to live with Chen in the Johnson Obear Apartments student dorm, Barrett said.