Chattanooga man found guilty of second-degree murder, attempted second-degree murder

A Chattanooga man was found guilty Thursday of second-degree murder and attempted second-degree murder in connection with a 2023 double shooting.

Legraine Devon Poston Jr., 35, was also found guilty of reckless endangerment with a deadly weapon and employment of a firearm during a dangerous offense.

Poston fatally shot Keyshawn Kidd and Kiara Brooks in the area of West 12th Street Court.

He was charged with first-degree murder and attempted first-degree murder. Hamilton County jurors deliberated for about four hours before returning the lesser verdict.

The shooting occurred on Feb. 14, 2023, after a fight broke out between Poston, Kidd and Brooks.

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Defense attorney Dan Ripper argued Poston acted in self-defense after he was beaten and put in a chokehold by Kidd.

Ripper asked jurors to imagine the feeling of having their own life snuffed out.

“You know what every human has in them?,” Ripper said during closing arguments. “The instinct to survive.”

But Poston grabbed a 9mm pistol after the fight was over while the couple returned to their car, Hamilton County prosecutor Paul Moyle said during closing arguments.

He sprayed bullets at the driver’s side of the car where Kidd was seated, and then turned his target toward Brooks, Moyle said.

Brooks tried to flee, so Poston shot her in the back twice, Moyle said.

“The pain was so great she thought she was about to die,” he said.

Then, he returned to Kidd and continued to shoot at him. Each shot fired was a conscious decision, Moyle said, adding he could have stopped at any time.

Poston failed to render aid to either of them, concealed his gun by placing it behind a plastic panel in his car and fled the scene, Moyle said.

Tennessee Highway Patrol later located Poston traveling on Interstate 24.

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However, Ripper argued people needed to fully understand the backstory to understand why the shooting was an act of self-defense.

Two days earlier, Brooks and Poston got into a fight, and he refused to apologize to her, Ripper said. Chattanooga police also noted this allegation in an affidavit in the case.

Brooks got several of her family members, including her father, to find Poston and intimidate him, Ripper said.

Her text messages to her boyfriend, Kidd, were shown to the courtroom, and it appeared she wasn’t satisfied with the outcome of that confrontation.

Brooks threatened to end communication with Kidd for not personally defending her.

“I promise when this money hit I’m getting me a gun,” she texted.

(READ MORE: Hamilton County prosecutor opens murder trial: ‘He shot until the gun was empty’)

Next time Kidd and Brooks saw Poston on the street, they started a fight, Ripper said, and Poston was in fear for his life.

The couple wasn’t armed with a gun, Moyle said.

“In this case, the defendant had to make a conscious choice to pull the trigger, pull the trigger, pull it, pull it, pull it, pull it, pull it and keep pulling it until he was done shooting,” Moyle said.

In 2012, Poston was convicted of attempted aggravated burglary in Madison County.

Poston is facing additional charges based on that prior felony, including possession of a firearm by a convicted felon, so an additional trial with the same jurors began Thursday night in connection with those counts.

Contact Sofia Saric at ssaric@timesfreepress.com or 423-757-6476.