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Chattanooga: Jurors deliberate Red Bank slaying case

By: Lauren Gregory
(Contact)

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Boyd Patterson
Karla Gothard

A jury in Hamilton County Criminal Court could decide as early as today whether Dyron Yokley’s admitted shooting of Tyus Steele in January 2007 was an act of first-degree, premeditated murder or simply self defense during a botched drug deal.

At 9 a.m., the panel of 12 will pick up where it left off after an hour of deliberation in Mr. Yokley’s case late Thursday afternoon. Jurors now must determine whether to side with prosecutors and charge the defendant with first-degree murder or agree with defense attorney Karla Gothard, who told them during closing arguments that she would be satisfied with a conviction on the lesser offense of voluntary manslaughter.

“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.”

Mr. Yokley, 27, was charged with first-degree murder, felony murder and especially aggravated robbery after admitting to police that he shot Mr. Steele twice in White Oak Park in Red Bank. According to state law, he could receive a life sentence with the possibility of parole if convicted on one or both murder charges.

Because he has three prior aggravated robbery convictions on his record, a conviction on this latest robbery charge could add another 25 to 40 years to his punishment.

Defense attorneys were unconvinced that prosecutors presented enough evidence to convict on the robbery charge or on the felony murder charge, which hinges on that offense. When they asked Criminal Court Judge Barry Steelman to throw out those charges based on the lack of evidence Thursday, the judge admitted that he had had some of the same reservations.

He ultimately denied their motion and let the charges go to the jury to decide. But he noted that “at points in this trial... I was prepared to do otherwise.”

Part of the problem, both sides agreed, was questionable police work by the Red Bank Police Department. None of the department’s officers was in the courtroom to defend himself against harsh criticism during closing arguments alleging detectives grossly had mismanaged evidence.

“I’m forced (to come to) the conclusion that the Red Bank Police Department that investigated this case is either really mean or really dumb,” Ms. Gothard said.

Assistant District Attorney Boyd Patterson also admitted to problems.

“They did some things that were not the best police work,” Mr. Patterson said. “It was really, really embarrassing for them. And by implication, I felt some of that, too.”

Red Bank Police Chief Larry Sneed, reached by phone Thursday evening, said he was in Jacksonville, Fla., and unable to comment on the allegations while the case was pending.

“As soon as the verdict comes in, I will tell you exactly what I think,” he said.

Mr. Patterson was quick to tell jurors that undesirable detective work should not get in the way of the correct verdict.

“In some cases, it’s very important,” he said. “Fortunately, this is a case where it’s not as necessary.”

Because videotaped interviews of Mr. Yokley show the defendant telling police he “wasn’t going back empty-handed,” prosecutors said, the intent to rob Mr. Steele was clear, and he clearly chased the victim through the park to kill him execution-style.

“He hunted Tyus Steele down like prey,” Assistant District Attorney Matthew Rogers said. “He chased him. He worked hard to commit first-degree murder.”

Those descriptions of the crime yielded visible reactions from members of Mr. Steele’s family, who have been attending proceedings each day. When Mr. Patterson displayed photographs of Mr. Steele’s lifeless body in the park, relatives pulled out tissues and began to cry to themselves quietly.

But Ms. Gothard staunchly denied that scenario, explaining to jurors that events likely played out the other way around. The murder was not premeditated, she said — it was a decision made in the heat of the moment after Mr. Steele tried to rob Mr. Yokley, hit him on the head with a rock and ran toward a man Mr. Yokley mistakenly believed could have been an armed drug associate.

“Yes, he misperceived (the situation),” she said during a nearly two-hour closing argument Thursday morning. “But you’re asked to look at his intent — what was in his mind. What was in his mind was, ‘Oh my God, I’m going to get shot.’... He may be a lot of things you don’t like, but does that make him a murderer? No.”

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