Facebook threat gets Chattanooga man arrested

photo Demetrice Carson

Demetrice Carson often posed with money and guns in the photos he posted on Facebook.

But it was a written post -- just two sentences -- that landed the 25-year-old in jail on Thursday.

Chattanooga police say Carson used Facebook to ask that someone kill Ladarius Nollie, 24, who was shot and recently testified against the gang member suspected of shooting him.

"Knock his [expletive] off if he talk to polices!!!!! Free blue light," Carson wrote on his profile on Oct. 2. He linked to a news story about Nollie testifying in court.

Police say the threat is clear and charged Carson with solicitation to commit first-degree murder.

The man Nollie testified against, 21-year-old Jermichael Brooks, is also known as "Blue Light." Brooks is charged with attempted first-degree murder for allegedly shooting Nollie multiple times on Aug. 23 at 4805 Rogers Road.

Shortly after Nollie appeared at a preliminary hearing and testified against Brooks, both Nollie and his girlfriend received multiple death threats, the woman told police.

She told police that some of the threats were made on Facebook, while she learned about other threats from "people talking." Nollie testified Sept. 30 and the woman called police to report the threats the next day. Nollie was in jail at the time on drug charges, and his girlfriend was afraid either he'd be killed or she would be.

Nollie pleaded guilty to those drug charges Wednesday and was released on probation. Carson was arrested Thursday, and police believe the threat he made was credible.

"Due to his criminal history and close ties to gang members, there is reason to believe Mr. Carson is fully capable of carrying out the threat he made," Detective Andew Peker wrote in the affidavit.

But Carson was released Friday on a $3,000 bond, court records show. His next court date is scheduled for Oct. 21.

Peker said it's not uncommon to hear that witnesses are being threatened for cooperating with police, but it's hard to track because many threats aren't reported.

"They're word of mouth and gossip," he said. "People hearing threats and not knowing the source."

The threats contribute to a code of silence among witnesses and victims that can make police investigations nearly impossible when witnesses refuse to testify or tell police what they saw.

In August, Chattanooga police launched a new program to try to combat that code. The program asks community members to put "positive peer pressure" on reluctant witnesses to encourage them to cooperate with police.

Peker said police try to make arrests anytime a threat can be proven.

"As long as we can prove the threat occurred, we try to take care of it all the time," he said. "But it's tough to prove a threat if it's word of mouth, so it's not often that we actually get to charge someone with a threat."

Contact staff writer Shelly Bradbury at 423-757-6525 or sbradbury@timesfreepress.com with tips or story ideas.

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