A man on trial for the 2018 shooting death of a woman in Chattanooga was found guilty of murder in Hamilton County Criminal Court on Thursday evening, according to a news release from the Hamilton County District Attorney's Office.
A jury found Tamarion Terell Johnson, 21, guilty of second-degree murder and aggravated assault in the homicide of 19-year-old Shawnquell Stanfield.
The homicide occurred on Sept. 24, 2018, at the intersection of North Chamberlain and Wilder Street.
Chattanooga police Sgt. Joe Neighbors, the lead detective on the case, testified that Johnson was attempting to rob Stanfield of her drugs in a car he had stolen. When Stanfield bolted from the car, Johnson, who was 17 at the time, shot multiple rounds in the direction of the Stanfield.
In his closing argument, Executive Assistant District Attorney General Cameron Williams read a letter Johnson wrote to his ex-girlfriend a few days after the shooting. In the letter, Johnson said, "I'm sorry for killing 'Phat Baby'" (a nickname for Stanfield). "I really didn't want to. All she had to do was give everything up. But she didn't. She ran. So I laid her down."
Hamilton County Medical Examiner Steven Cogswell testified that Stanfield was shot three times.
Assistant District Attorney AnCharlene Davis, co-counsel for the prosecution, said in her closing statement to the jury that Johnson stole a vehicle for the robbery, and after getting Stanfield alone, was going to take her drugs at gunpoint.
"He was not going to let her go, so she ran for her life," Davis said. "He brought a gun. Whether it's his gun, the driver's gun, he used it, and he used that gun to take her life."
Judge Don Poole set sentencing for June 9.
- Compiled by Jody Park