Out of prison for 47 days, suspect faces slaying charges in Chattanooga

Julian Pasley

Nineteen-year-old Julian Pasley had been out of prison for only 47 days when he was arrested Wednesday and charged with criminal homicide in the shooting death of 18-year-old Malik Blackstock.

Blackstock was shot once in the chest around 11:45 p.m. Tuesday inside a Windsor Terrace apartment in East Chattanooga. He was the fifth person to be shot to death in Chattanooga this year.

Malik Blackstock

His friends say Blackstock was working to turn his life around before his daughter is born in July.

Multiple witnesses named Pasley as the man who shot Blackstock on Tuesday, according to police.

One witness told police that Pasley pulled a revolver out of his pants, played with the cylinder of the gun and then the witness heard a gunshot. Other witnesses saw Pasley fleeing the scene with blood on his face and on his shirt.

Pasley also told one witness that the shooting was an accident and that she shouldn't talk to police, according to his affidavit.

People who knew Blackstock well say he and Pasley were friends.

Pasley, who is also known as "Man Man" and "C-Shooter," was still in custody at the Hamilton County Jail on a $500,000 bond Wednesday. The shooting is not his first run-in with the law.

Pasley was charged with attempted first-degree murder in 2013 when he was 17 years old after authorities said he shot another man in the leg multiple times during a dispute at Pasley's home on Germantown Road in February of that year. He agreed to plead guilty to the lesser charge of reckless endangerment in that case and was sentenced to two years, court records show. He just got out of jail on Feb. 20.

As news of Blackstock's death spread on Wednesday, friends and family took to social media to remember him. Some believed that the shooting was accidental, while others did not.

Diamond Jones, who said Blackstock was like a brother to her, said he was a good student who played sports throughout high school. She called his death a "tragic incident that no one knew was going to happen."

"[He] always kept a smile on his face and helped others when needed," she said.

Another friend, Mattasia Beach, said Blackstock and the baby's mother chose "Paris" as the name of their soon-to-be baby girl. She said he loved the name.

"Malik was a very loving, silly person," she said. "It hurts me the most knowing he was changing his life around to be with his unborn daughter. I know he had big plans for his daughter."

She added that she plans to help fill the hole left by his death.

Blackstock had been shot at least once before, according to Times Free Press archives. He was wounded during a shootout in December. Blackstock's mother, Lakisha Odum, is an employee of the Times Free Press.

Contact staff writer Shelly Bradbury at 423-757-6525 or sbradbury@timesfreepress.com with tips or story ideas.