KNOXVILLE, Tenn — Lawyers for three young men accused of ambushing and trying to kill two Austin-East High School students in January 2021 are fighting to keep out cellphone evidence they say unjustly makes their clients look like criminals.
Ahmad Gatlin, 19, Deondre Davis, 19, and Rashan Jordan, 17, are charged as adults with firing on and trying to kill the students after they drove away from school. They were juveniles at the time.
Riding in a stolen Honda Pilot, the defendants chased the victims' vehicle to a gas station at Magnolia Avenue and Cherry Street, according to police. One of the targets, Johnkelian "John-John" Mathis, returned fire with a .45-caliber pistol. The gunmen fled.
A month later, Davis and Jordan ambushed and killed another A-E student, Stanley Freeman, 16, as he drove away from school. Davis and Jordan are serving life sentences for that attack. Gatlin didn't take part in the killing.
Davis, Jordan and Gatlin are set to stand trial Monday, Nov. 13, in Knox County Criminal Court in the Jan. 11, 2021, shooting.
The prosecution wants to show jurors videos and still images found or sent from the teens' phones. The images depict the trio showing off various weapons, including guns the prosecution says were used or are consistent with firearms used in the January 2021 shooting.
Judge Steve Sword said he'd rule later this week on whether the images can be used at trial. The defense argues they're prejudicial and speculative, mainly lacking a clear connection to the crime itself.
The guns include a modified AR-15 style firearm, which previously has been shown to have been used in Freeman's murder.
Davis, in particular, is depicted in videos and stills flashing various weapons. Jordan can be seen in some of the images as well. He's holding a weapon in at least one. Gatlin is depicted with the AR-15 style rifle.
A Knoxville Police Department firearms expert testified Monday the stills and videos showed in many instances weapons that were consistent with guns police know were used in the January assault.
Other guns, however, don't appear to match those used in the January 2021 attack.
Prosecutor TaKisha Fitzgerald told Sword on Monday that investigators determined four guns were used against the Austin-East victims: two 9mms, a .40-caliber Smith & Wesson pistol and a weapon that takes ammunition like the AR-15-style rifle.
Casings from one of the 9mms was found outside Jarnigan & Son Mortuary across from the high school and at the gas station.
Two of the guns that were used in the attack were later found in connection with other crimes, including a homicide.
Mathis and his girlfriend ditched the .45-caliber pistol at the gas station. Casings from that gun also were found at the scene.
In August 2021, Mathis, 17, was shot and killed in Lonsdale. His killing remains unsolved.
