A jury found Jason Chen guilty of first-degree murder of Jasmine Pace on Monday afternoon after deliberating for less than an hour.
Members of the victim’s family in the gallery collectively exhaled and clapped before Criminal Court Judge Boyd Patterson requested they keep their emotional reactions to themselves.
Chen stabbed Pace 60 times on Nov. 22, 2022, and disposed of her body, shackled and wrapped in trash bags, in a hard-shell suitcase in the Tennessee River. He was also found guilty of abuse of a corpse.
Chen is facing life without parole and is scheduled to be sentenced Tuesday.
After some debate over jury instructions, the state and defense gave closing arguments Monday on the seventh day of Chen’s trial, and jury deliberations began and ended the same day.