VERDICT CAME BACK NOT GUILTY IN MAKIEA WOODLAND MURDER
TRIAL........SMDH MY HEART GOES OUT TO HER FAMILY....ONLY GOD CAN JUDGE CEDRIC  PEPPERS AND JUSTIN HOWARD.U MAY HAVE WON IN COURT BUT NOT WITH GOD. HE HAS THE  FINAL SAY SO! HOW CAN YOU SLEEP AT NIGHT KNOWING U GOT AWAY WITH SUCH AN AWFUL  CRIME? I KNOW I WILL HAVE SOME NEGATIVE AND POSTITVE COMMENTS BUT IM  READY.......I DONT FEEL LIKE JUSTICE WAS SERVED!!!!!

NASHVILLE, Tenn. –
The jury has reached a verdict in the trial of two men accused of killing a
12-year-old honor student. Both men were found not guilty of first degree
murder.

The verdict was read
around 10:30 a.m., just over an hour after resuming deliberations Friday. The
jury also deliberated for about four hours Thursday before being sent home for
the day.


Both Cedric Peppers and Justin Howard were found not
guilty on all counts.


Mikia Woodland was killed in July of 2009 at her family's home on Maury Street in the Napier area of Nashville. Mikia was a student at Dodson Elementary School and loved to sing and dance.


Prosecutors said Peppers, Howard and three other people
forced their way inside the home and fatally shot Mikia as they tried to rob her
father.


She heard the commotion and came out of her room to see
what was going on. Police said the men shot Mikia several times as she tried to
run away.


"One said, ‘Get back in your room and shut the door,'"
said Mikia's grandmother Shannon Hooten." I grabbed my phone to call 911. In the
next eight seconds, all I could hear was gun fire."


Mikia was taken to Vanderbilt University Medical Center
where she was pronounced dead.


During closing arguments Thursday, attorneys for both
Peppers and Howard said their clients were innocent.


The jury was instructed to return two separate verdicts
– one for Peppers and one for Howard. The state had asked for convictions of
first degree murder on both men.


"It really hasn't hit me yet because I'm trying to keep
myself together for my grandchildren, but it's hard," Mikia's other grandmother,
Sarah Woodland, told NewsChannel5 in 2009. "I'm just going to miss my
grandchild."


Metro officers canvassed the neighborhood with fliers,
asking for the public's help to find the killers.


It wasn't until May 2010 when five people were charged.
The men arrested were Raphael Turner, 20, Justin Howard, 22, Jeffrey Dale Foxx,
20, and Cedric Peppers, 26. Ronald Deshawn Roseman was charged in Juvenile Court
because he was 17 years old at the time of the shooting.


Roseman pleaded guilty to second degree murder in
January 2012. He was sentenced to 20-years in prison with no chance for parole.



Turner, Peppers and Foxx all pled not guilty. Foxx has
since admitted his involvement and testified against both Howard and Peppers.




Howard's attorney argued that some witnesses were only
testifying against his client for self-preservation and that there was little
evidence linking him to the crime.


During closing arguments, prosecutors told the jurors
all five men should not only be held accountable, but be found guilty.


If convicted, Howard would have faced up to 51 years in
prison. Peppers would have faced life in prison without the possibility of
parole.


Foxx and Turner both still face charges and trials of
their own

NASHVILLE, Tenn.-  Police have responded to reports of a 17-year-old shot outside a home in North Nashville  The call came into police dispatch just after 3 p.m. Wednesday at a home on Vanderhorst Drive, just  off Whites Creek Pike. Friends and family told us that the victim was  17-year-old Demarcus Jordan-Ellis, a senior at Hillsboro High School. Jordan-Ellis was said to have been found outside the home covered in blood  with several gunshot wounds. Police were still investigating the scene A said that when Jordan-Ellis' mother returned home Wednesday afternoon, police officers were already at her home after a neighbor called police when they heard gunshots.Police have arrested a suspect in the murder of 17-year-old Demarcus Jordan-Ellis.SWAT officers took 20-year-old Jerome Stone into custody Friday around 10:15 a.m. at his apartment on Rio Vista Drive.The teen was killed inside his home on Vanderhorst Drive, just off Whites Creek Pike. Investigators found evidence that indicated Jordan-Ellis had been selling drugs at the address. Officials said a neighbor saw Jordan-Ellis walking on the street Wednesday afternoon and told him there was a  old car parked in his driveway."The victim indicated that he knew who  was in the gold car, he walked back to the house, evidently let them inside as he came inside and shortly thereafter the shots were fired," said Don Aaron,spokesperson for the Metro Nashville Police Department.The gold colored Chevrolet Impala was seen leaving the scene after shots were fired. Investigators were able to track down the vehicle and its owner Thursday.The owner of the car told police he drove to Jordan-Ellis' home so Stone could buy marijuana.He told police he went inside the house with Stone, who pulled a gun and pointed it at the teen. As the car owner ran outside he heard shots fired and the victim screaming. The man told police. Stone walked outside of the house, then turned around and walked back inside before firing additional shots.Soon after a neighbor went to check on the commotion inside the house and discovered Jordan-Ellis covered in blood with several gunshot wounds. The teen had already died.Stone was charged with criminal homicide.

Everyday I get  asked the Question "Why do you do this?" Why do u care so much? I Can only  Say...."If I don't who will?" I always Hear People saying R.I.P. this and I Miss  My Homies.....But that's only Temporary.....Out of Sight out of Mind..I Promise
That I will do whatever it takes to keep the Memories of our Loved Ones Alive!
Even if they Didn't live the Life We Thought They should Live...God Le...
nt them to us And at some point we All have to   Return to our Maker! Everyone Loves You while ur Here.....But when ur Gone tell  me will they Miss U? Walk A Day in My shoes or Watch a young Child or Innocent  Victim Shot down in cold blood.....Don't try to help only after your Affected....Let's Try to Prevent it before it begins! I will continue Make my Way to Graveyards And Furnerals And anywhere else to keep spreading the Word  about this Gun Violence Its not Right and its Not Life! Only God Can Judge  Us....And  Not Him

AT APPROXIMATELY 7:30 IN THE EVENING, CAROLYN PHILLIPS EXITED THE
KROGER STORE AT 711 GALLATIN AVE AND WALKED TO HER RED FORD TEMPO WHICH WAS PARKED ON THE EASTLAND SIDE OF THE BUILDING.  SHE GOT INTO HER CAR; PUT HER  GROCERIES ON THE FLOOR AND HER PURSE ON THE SEAT.  A MAN THAT HAD BEEN LOITERING   IN THE LOT APPROACHED HER AND DEMANDED HER MONEY.  SHE SCREAMED AND BEGAN  BLOWING HER HORN.  THE MAN SHOT CAROLYN AND TOOK
OFF RUNNING EAST ON EASTLAND AVENUE AND THEN SOUTH ON NORTH 12TH STREET WHERE HE WAS LAST SEEN RUNNING.  CAROLYN PHILLIPS WAS RUSHED TO A NEARBY HOSPITAL WHERE  SHE WAS PRONOUNCED DEAD ON ARRIVAL. AT THE TIME OF THE MURDER IN   1987, THE GUNMAN WAS DESCRIBED AS A DARK COMPLECTED MALE BLACK, AVERAGE HEIGHT,
MEDIUM BUILD AND AROUND 30 YEARS OLD.  HE HAD A SLIGHT BEARD, A JERI CURL AND A
MUSTACHE.  HE WAS WEARING JEANS AND NO SHIRT.   WITNESSES SAID HE HAD SOMETHING
IN HIS HAND THAT LOOKED LIKE A ROLLED UP SHIRT.

 

 An accused murderer was arrested late Saturday night after three years on the
run. DeAndre Rucker, 24, was taken into custody at his wife's apartment
in the Crestview complex on Thompson Place by members of the U.S. Marshal's
Fugitive Task Force, along with Gang Unit detectives and SWAT officers.
  Rucker is accused in the October 8, 2009 shooting death of Demetrius Riley on
Richmond  Hill Drive near Spears Road.  Police  said Riley was walking on Richmond Hill Drive with a friend when two young men  suddenly ran up behind him. One of the suspects fired and Riley fell to the ground. Police said the second suspect then shot him several more  times.  Police said the motive was believed to be a gang dispute. The  friend was not injured. The investigation led to the identification of
Rucker as a suspect. A second suspect, Quincy Terrell Sharpe, 19, was
arrested last August. Rucker was convicted of attempted aggravated
robbery in 2007 and received a three-year probated sentence.
 
 

 A 43-year-old mother of four was killed after multiple shots were fired
into her north Nashville home Tuesday evening. Metro police said Tonya
Ross was lying in a bed inside the home located in the 1800 block of Haynes  Street, west of Trinity Lane, when a gunman opened fire around 6:15 p.m. Commander Anthony Carter said a bullet struck Ross in the head. She was transported to Vanderbilt University Medical Center where she later died. "One of the bullets that went through the wall hit a female
victim who was lying in the bed," Carter said, adding, "Bullets were fired
inside the residence, so I doubt if it was accidental."

Tonya lived in
the home with her elderly parents and brother. No one else was injured. 
 
 

Nashville Police have asked for the public's help to locate a convicted
felon they believe was responsible for a fatal shooting Friday morning.   
Police said 24-year-old Antonio Flenoy was suspected of shooting and
killing 21-year-old Tashelle Vaughn inside Vaughn's apartment on Rio Vista Drive. According to officials, both Flenoy and Vaughn knew each other prior to the shooting.Investigators said that Flenoy and another woman were visiting Vaughn when a shooting occurred just after midnight  on Friday. The woman with Flenoy said she was in another room when she heard the shot and then found Vaughn suffering from a gunshot to the chest.


Vaughn later died at Vanderbilt University Medical Center.
 
 

Months of  investigation by North Precinct detective Tim Codling resulted in the first-degree murder indictment against convicted felon Ronald Armstrong for the  brazen January 11th shooting death of James Nicholson III outside Givens  Community Market at 28th Avenue North and Clifton Avenue. Nicholson,
33, was standing alone outside the convenience store when Armstrong, 33, calmly walked up to him ... and allegedly fired several shots at close range   just after 2 p.m.  Nicholson was transported to Vanderbilt University Medical 
Center where he died.

In February, Armstrong was convicted of cocaine
possession and felon in possession of a weapon.  He was serving a nine year
sentence at the time of his indictment.

One person was killed in a two-vehicle wreck Friday near Saundersville Road
and Shute Lane in Hermitage.LaQuansha Jordan, 22, of Maplewood Trace  was the front seat passenger in a 1988 Plymouth Gran Fury driven by Joshua  Whitworth, 23, of Old Hickory, TN. Whitworth was driving northbound  on Shutes Lane when he failed to negotiate a curve, entered the southbound lane,
and colli.. ded with a 2007 Toyota Corolla driven by Deborah
Whitinger, 62. Jordan died on the scene. Whitworth and Whitinger were
both transported to Vanderbilt University Medical Center with non-life
threatening injuries.

Toxicology tests on Whitworth are being
conducted to determine whether alcohol or drugs played a role in this fatal
crash

At approximately 09:30 pm Terry Lajuan Davis was standing at the bus
stop at Moorewood Court and Moorewood Drive.  While waiting for the MTA bus, two unknown suspects approached the victim from behind a home on Moorewood Court. 
The suspects started shooting at the victim and shot him in the back.  The
victim was left to die on the corner as the suspects fled the area on foot...
.  Witnesses stated they saw two male blacks with  black hoodies running from the scene.  One of the suspects is described as being very tall, approximately 6ft 2in, thin with his hair in shoulder length  dreads. Police were called to the scene after someone noticed the  victim lying on the ground.  Police and ambulance personnel responded to the scene but the victim had already died from his wounds.
   The Metro Police Department is asking for the public’s assistance in locating the persons  responsible for this murder.  The victim was wearing a black San Antonio Spurs baseball cap with a gray bill, gray hoodie, black jeans, and black tennis shoes
with white stripes.  He was holding a white plastic Wal-Mart bag at the time of
his murder.