Kenyetta Bray

A young man accused of orchestrating a “gang retaliation killing” wore a plain, dark blue shirt to the first day of his trial — a calculated move, his sister said, to prove he’s no longer a part of that world.

“Yeah, he was a gang member of the Skyline Bloods,” said Nicole Evans, sister of defendant Michael “Mike Mike” Daniels outside the courtroom. “But he doesn’t wear red anymore. ”

Prosecutors told jurors during opening statements Tuesday to expect a crash course in symbolic colors and other aspects of gang culture as they hear testimony in the first-degree murder trial of Mr. Daniels and co-defendant Timothy “Timbo” Evans. The two are being tried this week in Hamilton County Criminal Court in connection with the death of 26-year-old Adrian Patton.

Defense attorneys for Mr. Daniels and Mr. Evans told jurors not to let the prosecution scare them with “gang talk.”

Hamilton County Judge Rebecca Stern later sequestered in a downtown hotel the 14-member panel that will hear the story of a 2006 killing that immediately became a high-profile example of Chattanooga’s perceived gang problem.

Members of the Skyline Bloods gang at the time, the two co-defendants now sit as enemies at their joint trial, with Mr. Evans, 19, expected to testify this week that Mr. Daniels, 22, ordered him to kill Adrian Patton. The killing was payback, prosecutors said, for the belief that Mr. Patton had fired — or at least knew who fired — shots into the home of Mr. Daniel’s sister, Ms. Evans, earlier that day.

Executive Assistant District Attorney Neal Pinkston told the jury Mr. Patton had begun the day simply trying to get his car fixed. Instead, he spent the whole day trying to quell the rumor that he fired the shots by “telling anyone who would listen” within the gang’s microcosm on the south and east side of Chattanooga that he didn’t.

Then, after being lured to the Emma Wheeler Homes on the 700 block of East 48th Street to supposedly set things straight, Mr. Pinkston said, “Adrian Patton was murdered in broad daylight” as Mr. Evans fired six bullets through the driver’s side door of his truck.

Prosecutors said Mr. Daniels, who they believe was the leader of the Skyline Bloods, addressed Mr. Evans by his nickname just seconds before the shooting, saying, “handle this, Piru.” Then he looked on with others as the events unfolded.

Mr. Patton’s death is believed to have led to a retaliation killing a couple of days later in the East Lake Courts housing development, police said.

Both Mr. Daniels and Mr. Evans are charged in Mr. Patton’s death with murder in the first degree, conspiracy to commit murder in the first degree and unlawfully possessing a firearm.

In complete disagreement over the events that led to Mr. Patton’s death, the co-defendants are wearing stun belts that can be activated remotely should violence disrupt between them during the trial.

Defense attorney Jesse Dalton said his client, Mr. Daniels, never told his co-defendant to kill anyone.

“(Mr. Evans) has said that he never takes orders from Mike Mike,” Mr. Dalton said.

Attorney John McDougal, who represents Mr. Evans, told jurors to hear all the evidence before coming to a conclusion.

In an effort to mitigate what could become a heavy focus on gang life in general, Mr. Dalton pointed out that “no one is charged in this courtroom with being in a gang. Being in a gang is not against the law.”

Witness testimony begins today and is expected to last through Friday.