Roommate Of Chance LeCroy Describes Sept. 9, 2010 Murder

  • Tuesday, May 24, 2016
  • Jessica Kramer
Patrick Carmody listens as prosecutor Cameron Williams addresses jury
Patrick Carmody listens as prosecutor Cameron Williams addresses jury
photo by Jessica Kramer

The roommate of Chance LeCroy told a Criminal Court jury on Tuesday of the terrifying day that robbers burst into their residence and killed the 21-year-old LeCroy.

Patrick Carmody, one of three men charged in the slaying, is standing trial in the courtroom of Judge Barry Steelman. Also charged were Ronald Lee Pittman and Billy Bob Parton.

Carmody pleaded not guilty to charges of felony murder and especially aggravated robbery.

Tucker King testified that his father owned the residence at 1211 Johnston Terrace, and that he lived there with his brother and Chance LeCroy, who he had been friends with since middle school. He said he and LeCroy worked the same hours and the same job at FedEx, but LeCroy also made some money by selling marijuana from the house.

The roomate said after working from about 3 a.m. to 8 a.m. on Sept. 9, 2010, he and LeCroy arrived home. He said he fell asleep on the couch watching TV, and was woken up by “a loud pop,” which he quickly determined to be a gunshot.

“I saw a man in the kitchen pointing a gun at me,” he said.

The witness described the man as a stocky, average height, white male, with a thick, Southern accent, holding a semi-automatic pistol, and possibly wearing a dark blue hoodie. He said he was told to get on the ground, which he did, never looking up after that. He said the man approached him and put a gun to his head, and he thought the man was going to kill him.

“He said, ‘Don’t move,’ and ‘I ought to kill you right now,’” he testified.

The witness said he heard a struggle in the back, another gunshot, and then, after silence, a different person said, “We got it.” He said he saw a “blue-ish gray, older truck,” with two, possibly three, people inside being drive down the street after exiting the residence. He said he called 911 and tried to perform CPR on LeCroy before police arrived.

Emily Sailors, the victim’s girlfriend, said she met him in middle school, started dating him in 2009, and spent about four or five nights a week at his house. She said she had stayed with LeCroy the night before the murder and was there that morning before she left for work.

Ms. Sailors said she and Mr. LeCroy sold marijuana together. She said they never had more than an ounce or two at a time and sold it in increments of 1 to 3 ½ grams.

She said she started calling LeCroy repeatedly after she learned someone had broken into the house. When Tucker King called and told her LeCroy was dead, she said she drove straight to the house, where she later talked to police.

Ms. Sailors told the jury she had never seen LeCroy with a gun and did not think he owned one.

When Prosecutor Kevin Brown asked how much marijuana LeCroy had at the time of the murder, Ms. Sailors looked directly at the defendant and said, “Not enough to take someone’s life.”

Sergeant James Tate of the Chattanooga Police Department said he could see no signs of forced entry when he walked through the crime scene. Though he did not go inside LeCroy’s bedroom, he said he saw into the room with Mr. LeCroy on the floor.

“I could see the sheets and covers from the bed were torn off. There was blood on Chance and on the bed,” he said. “There was a struggle inside the bedroom. You could tell by looking at it.”

Sergeant Tate said officers were not able to find LeCroy’s cell phone at the crime scene.

“A victim’s cell phone in a homicide case is a big deal. So if it’s not on the scene with them, sometimes we can think that possibly the suspects took it with them,” he said.

Sergeant Tate said they discovered LeCroy’s cell phone had made contact with cell towers after his death at several locations. He said it was during a cold case forum hosted at the Chattanooga Police Department that they received information about Partin, which led them to information about Pittman, his supervisor at work.

Sergeant Tate said Pittman gave him information about the homicide during an interview.

Attorney Lee Ortwein asked about alternative suspects, as well as female DNA taken from the crime scene. Sergeant Tate said even though DNA samples were taken from LeCroy’s girlfriend and others, a match was never found, as far as he knew.

Prosecutor Kevin Brown, during his opening statements, told the jury, “The state of Tennessee is gonna ask you to hold Patrick Carmody responsible for going to Chance LeCroy’s house and killing him, leaving him dead in his bedroom, over a sack of pot.” 

Prosecutor Brown said Carmody, Partin and Pittman went into LeCroy’s residence on Johnston Terrace. He said Carmody and Partin went into the victim’s bedroom while he was asleep and beat him before shooting him twice and leaving him for dead. He said Pittman was out in the living room holding LeCroy’s roommate at gunpoint during the murder.

Prosecutor Brown said the defendant knew LeCroy because the victim sold marijuana. He said the three suspects went to Academy Sports to buy supplies before going to LeCroy’s house.

“Chance died in that back bedroom, died in the bedroom of his own home, because Billy Bob Partin and Ronald Pittman and Patrick Carmody went to his house to rob him of marijuana and whatever cash he had,” prosecutor Brown said. “21-year-old Chance lay there dead because of Patrick Carmody.”

Defense attorney Ortwein told the jury, “The evidence in this case is gonna be witness testimony, and the most important witness is gonna be Mr. Pittman himself.”

He said Pittman was the kind of person who decided to give information in the hopes of getting some kind of benefit. He said the prosecution expects the jury to believe Pittman is going to give information in order to “get it off his chest.”

“I find that insulting, and I hope you do too,” he said.

Attorney Ortwein said the prosecution would try to use witnesses to put a puzzle together for the jury, but if the jury looked close enough, the pieces would not fit.

“All that I can ask of you, all that Mr. Carmody can ask of you, is to pay close attention to that evidence,” he said. “If you do that, we’ll have no complaint about what the verdict will be.”

Tucker King
Tucker King
photo by Jessica Kramer
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