statementof the case
December 1995
- A drive-by shooting occurs at a market in Nashville, TN
- Victims: Kevin Robinson is shot in the leg; 12-year-old Jeremiah Warfield is killed.
- Within 48 hours, police name three suspects:
- Shaun Smith
- LaDonte’ Smith (minor)
- Gary Jordan (their cousin)
- A "manhunt" for the suspects begins.
- Vera Ashby (girlfriend of another Smith brother, Dallas Smith) is named as a fourth suspect.
- Gary Jordan turns himself in to police.
- Within two weeks, LaDonte’ Smith surrenders to juvenile detention.
- Shaun Smith remains at large.
- Joe D. Martin, Jr. is named as a suspect.
- Joe voluntarily meets with police and is arrested.
- He is indicted on 5 charges:
- 1 count of 1st degree murder
- 1 count of 1st degree felony murder
- 2 counts of attempted 1st degree murder
- 1 count of facilitation
- Shaun Smith is finally taken into custody.
- Joe Martin goes to trial by jury, just 6 months after his arrest, alongside co-defendants Shaun and LaDonte’ Smith.
- The prosecution joins the cases of the three men.
- Vera Ashby and Gary Jordan's cases are severed.
- The state presents 15–20 witnesses, but only two implicate Joe Martin:
- Gary Jordan (now a state witness) claims all four men, including Joe, fired weapons.
- Arnett Hayes claims he loaned the car used in the shooting and saw the group leave with guns and ski masks.
- Victims Kevin Robinson and Timothy Miller testify that they had never seen or met Joe Martin before.
- Joe Martin testifies he was home with his live-in girlfriend, Angelina Majors, on the day of the crime.
- Alibi witnesses Angelina Majors and Eboni McAllister support his account.
- The jury convicts Joe Martin of:
- 1st degree premeditated murder
- Attempted 1st degree murder (Kevin Robinson)
- Attempted 2nd degree murder (Timothy Miller)
- Sentence: LIFE with the possibility of parole after 51 years.
- The court adds:
- 20 years for attempted 1st degree murder
- 10 years for attempted 2nd degree murder
- These run concurrent to each other, but consecutive to the LIFE sentence
- Final sentence: LIFE plus 20 years
- Shaun Smith: LIFE + 25 years
- LaDonte’ Smith: LIFE + 17 years