A former Hamilton County gang member took the stand Wednesday after he pleaded guilty to three murders to apologize for one of them — that of Bianca Horton, an innocent witness who planned to testify against a fellow gang member.
"Bianca was not a member of any criminal enterprise," Courtney High said in Hamilton County Criminal Court. "I'm most sympathetic about her. She was just an innocent mother who was murdered for nothing."
High, 33, pleaded guilty to first-degree murder, felony murder, second-degree murder and especially aggravated kidnapping as part of an agreement with state prosecutors. He received a life sentence and will be eligible for parole after serving 51 years.
He was facing the death penalty, which he avoided through the plea arrangement.
(READ MORE: Police arrest man after witness says he bragged about killing woman)
High admitted Wednesday to also murdering Jerrica Jackson and Marquise Jackson in 2016.
Initially, none of the family members of Horton, Jerrica Jackson or Marquise Jackson wanted to address High.
High feels sorry about what happened to Horton every day and thinks about killing himself daily, he said. High was 13 when his mother was murdered, so he knows how it feels for Horton's child to grow up without a mother, he said.
"I didn't pull the trigger on Bianca," High said. "I was once that kid without a mother."
The families of Jerrica Jackson and Marquise Jackson appeared taken aback that High focused solely on Horton's murder and innocence.
"What about my son?" Marquise Jackson's mother shouted across the courtroom through tears. "What about my son?"
Three members of the victims' families changed their minds after that interaction and took the stand to make statements, too.
Staff photo / Bianca Horton, mother of 1-year-old Zoey Duncan who was shot in 2015 in College Hill Courts, talks in the lobby of Erlanger Children's Hospital about her daughter's recovery. Horton was shot and killed in 2016.Several state prosecutors laid out the factual basis for High's plea. Horton was meant to testify against gang member Cortez Sims, who shot and killed Talitha Bowman, injured Horton and a second man, and paralyzed Horton's baby during a 2015 shooting at College Hill Courts.
As Horton reached the sidewalk one day after work in May 2016, a group of men, including High, kidnapped her, state prosecutors said. Her body was found the next day on Elder Street. She was shot six times.
"After you tell something, you better go far," High said over a recorded line about Horton's murder, according to state prosecutors.
(READ MORE: Police force using grant to find solution for eyewitnesses who keep quiet)
The following month, Chattanooga police officers responded to a home on the 4600 block of Trailwood Drive for reports of shots fired. Officers found Jerrica Jackson sitting behind the steering wheel of a car in a slumped over position.
High had hidden in the bushes waiting for her to come home, approached the driver's side of her car with a gun wrapped in a shirt and shot her four times at close range.
None of the people inside the home or in the neighborhood were initially forthcoming or honest, but eventually witnesses described a man with dreads fleeing the scene, prosecutors said. It matched the description of High.
Jerrica Jackson and High were cousins and were raised together for some time. She was murdered over gang-related issues and because she knew too much, prosecutors said.
Authorities later found Jerrica Jackson's funeral program inside High's car while executing a search warrant.
Marquise Jackson was murdered a few weeks later in an unrelated incident, prosecutors said. He and his girlfriend heard a knock at their front door one day in August 2016. When Marquise Jackson opened the door, High fired multiple gunshots at him, prosecutors said. The underlying reason was some type of disagreement between rival gangs.
High was one of dozens of people who were charged in a 2018 racketeering indictment against a Chattanooga street gang, the Athens Park Bloods.
High said he plans to put together a Chattanooga nonprofit focusing on gang violence and write about his experiences as a way to repent for his actions. He also said he is no longer a member of the gang.
He is being transferred to an out-of-state prison as part of his plea deal.
Hamilton County Criminal Court Judge Boyd Patterson referenced one of High's statements to law enforcement, which he reviewed before the hearing. High spoke about doing the higher ranking gang member's bidding because he thought they would have his back. Older gang members lie to younger people to recruit them and to keep them involved, Patterson said. It's a recurring theme.
"When you tell young people it's a lie, that's going to carry more weight," Patterson said to High. "Your life isn't over. You owe it to them and yourself to do what you told them you were going to do."
Contact Sofia Saric at ssaric@timesfreepress.com or 423-757-6476.
Staff photo / Courtney High is arraigned via remote video in Judge Tom Greenholtz's courtroom in 2018. High pleaded guilty to several murders Wednesday in Hamilton County Criminal Court and received a life sentence.