Hamilton County Sheriff's Office / Adrian Darnell NixonThe former girlfriend of a Chattanooga man on trial in connection with the 2016 shooting death of Jeremy Clark said he instructed her to not go home the afternoon following the incident at the J&J Lounge.
Adrian Darnell Nixon, 33, was back in Hamilton County Criminal Court on Wednesday and heard his former girlfriend, Denise Flanagan, tell the jury she cleaned her Dodge Challenger on July 29, 2016, and that he instructed her to stay away from the home they shared just a few blocks from the scene of the shooting.
Nixon is facing first-degree premeditated murder charges in connection with the death of Clark, also of Chattanooga. The shooting took place early on the day Flanagan later cleaned her vehicle.
Nixon told investigators that while he was the only one in Flanagan's Dodge Challenger, an "unknown party approached [the] vehicle from the passenger side, reached through the vehicle and shot Mr. Clark multiple times," a police affidavit said.
Flanagan was the registered owner of the Dodge that Nixon drove the day of the incident. On the second day of the trial, she told Executive Assistant District Attorney Cameron Williams that when she woke up around midnight, the vehicle and Nixon were not at the house.
"I called my mom to take me [to work]," Flanagan said.
Flanagan said she was a supervisor for a caregiving company in 2016, and her duties included walk-throughs at several locations to ensure caregivers were keeping clients' houses clean. Other duties for Flanagan included counting medication and calling in prescriptions. She further explained that the walk-throughs usually take about two hours.
Flanagan said that while performing a walk-through at a home, Nixon called her and picked her up, and they both went to her mother's house to sleep a few hours before going to her regular shift at 7 a.m.
"He told me, 'Don't go home,'" Flanagan said. "He said he was at the wrong place at the wrong time."
During her testimony, Flanagan said that after her 7 a.m. shift was done, she took her vehicle to the car wash, then vacuumed the interior as part of her way of getting ready for her birthday weekend. She also said that she was the only one to handle the vehicle after that.
"I was getting ready to get on the road, so I washed my car," Flanagan said. "It was a nice car."
She also testified that at some point during the day, Nixon told her police were looking for him.
"Did you tell him to go to the police?" Williams asked.
"I didn't tell him to do nothin'," Flanagan said.
As the proceedings continued before Judge Don W. Poole, investigators took the witness stand to walk jurors through their process of securing the crime scene and collecting and processing evidence.
The court also saw video footage investigators shot of the lounge parking lot. In it, a deceased Clark is seen in a closeup, as well as several shell casings in close proximity to his body and where the Dodge Challenger was briefly parked.
Nixon observed quietly as the video played in its entirety.
Defense attorney Jonathan Tucker asked Chattanooga Police Department Crime Scene Investigator Dennis Gene Nelson if the other five vehicles in the parking lot were processed for evidence.
"No," Nelson said.
He further testified that only one vehicle was swabbed for evidence since it contained a drop of blood.
Tennessee Bureau of Investigation Agent Charly Castelbuono, a scientist in the forensic biology unit, also testified. Castelbuono performed DNA testing on Nixon and Clark and Flanagan.
Castelbuono said her analysis of the material collected by Chattanooga police showed large amounts of female DNA were found in the vehicle. Further testing determined the DNA was Flanagan's, consistent with Flanagan's testimony.
Castelbuono said traces of male DNA were present in the vehicle, but there was not enough to attribute it to anyone.
After Poole recessed the court for the day, Williams sought to enter new evidence that would prove Nixon was part of a rival gang to Clark's gang, according to police. The defense objected, stating the prosecution agreed to not mention gang activity unless the defense introduced the topic.
"Our case is not prepared for that," defense attorney Jonathan Turner argued. "The prosecution agreed they would not allege gang activity, and we prepared our defense accordingly."
Poole said he was tempted to not admit the evidence but would give a definitive answer Thursday morning.
Contact La Shawn Pagán at lpagan@timesfreepress.com or 423-757-6476. Follow her on Twitter @LaShawnPagan.