Jurors in Hamilton County Criminal Court are about to begin deliberating whether defendant Dyron Yokley’s admitted shooting of Tyus Steele should be considered first-degree premeditated murder.

A jury that’s been listening to evidence in Mr. Yokley’s case since last Wednesday heard closing arguments this morning from Hamilton County Assistant District Attorney Boyd Patterson and defense attorney Karla Gothard.

Right now, Judge Barry Steelman is instructing the jury and will hand the case over for deliberation later this afternoon.

Jurors must decide whether the January 2007 death of Mr. Steele during what has been described as a “drug deal gone bad” at White Oak Park in Red Bank should result in charges of first-degree premeditated murder, felony murder and especially aggravated robbery. Mr. Yokley has admitted shooting Mr. Steele, but his defense attorneys have said he thought he had to kill Mr. Steele to save his own life.

Both sides have referenced what they call poor police work on the part of the Red Bank Police Department, which was in charge of investigating the case.

“But fortunately,” Mr. Patterson told jurors in his 45-minute closing, “this wasn’t the kind of case where it mattered” because premeditation was apparent.

In her nearly two-hour closing argument, Ms. Gothard begged to differ, explaining that detectives’ mishandling of evidence makes it impossible to prove that Mr. Yokley planned the shooting.

“If it ain’t got the pineapple, it ain’t upside-down cake,” Ms. Gothard said. “If it ain’t got premeditation, then it ain’t first-degree murder.”

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