BLOUNTVILLE — Prosecutors on Tuesday argued Jawaune Massey played a key role in the robbery and murders of two men inside a Kingsport business in 2005, while the defense argued their client was not involved and not even in the state the day of the shootings.
Massey, 36, is being tried in Sullivan County Circuit Court this week on charges alleging he was involved in the Nov. 18, 2005, robbery and execution-style shooting deaths of Jeffrin Nolan and Terrance Alexander inside the former Solé candle shop on Myrtle Street.
Massey is charged with two counts each of premeditated and felony first-degree murder and one count each of especially aggravated robbery and criminal conspiracy to commit aggravated robbery.
According to medical testimony, Nolan’s death was rapid but not instantaneous — the result of two gunshot wounds to the back of his head. Alexander suffered a single gunshot to the back of his head and was declared brain dead at a local hospital prior to his death.
Massey is also being tried on charges alleging his participation in a cocaine distribution ring headed up by his half-brother, Osheene Massey. Those charges include criminal conspiracy to possess more than 26 grams of cocaine with intent to sell or deliver, possession of over 26 grams of cocaine for resale, and maintaining a dwelling where controlled substances are used or sold.
In opening statements Tuesday morning, Sullivan County Deputy District Attorney Gene Perrin told the jury the state believes Jawaune Massey, his half-brother and a third codefendant, Leslie Allen Ware Jr., plotted and carried out the robbery and murder of Nolan because they suspected him of being a "snitch" to police and to eliminate a competitor, "someone above Osheene in the cocaine business."
Nolan, despite being on supervised probation, was a "wholesaler" of cocaine, Perrin said. His candle shop served as a "front" for his operation, which involved the sale of one to two kilograms or more of cocaine per week for $20,000 to $40,000. Osheene Massey was one of his customers.
Perrin said they shot Alexander, a drug user, to eliminate "a potential witness."
The trio had discussed plans to rob and kill Nolan days before the shootings, with one attempt two days prior called off "for various reasons," Perrin said.
The plan involved sending co-defendant Octavia Brooks into the shop first to order some "work" — street slang for cocaine — which Nolan kept in a back room. He was known to arm himself with a gun he kept stashed near his cash register when male customers came in, but not female customers, and Brooks was a "reliable customer," he said.
While Nolan was in the back getting the cocaine, Jawaune Massey and Ware entered the front room with handguns drawn, telling Alexander, who was in the front, to "be quiet, you know what this is," Perrin said.
Ware then ordered Brooks out of the shop. Outside, she passed by Clyde Green, who had driven Osheene Massey to the shop.
Green had been ordered into the shop by Osheene Massey, Perrin said. Once inside, he found the front room empty. From the doorway to the back room, he spotted Nolan and Alexander lying face down in the floor beside each other.
Green saw Jawaune Massey had his own gun and a gun Green recognized as Nolan’s tucked in his waistband, Perrin said. Ware had his gun, a 9 millimeter, pointed at the back of Nolan’s head while he demanded the location of the "rest" of his cocaine and cash, Perrin said.
"Next thing he knows, he sees Leslie Ware fire a shot into the back of Jeffrin Nolan’s head," said Perrin.
Green then started out of the candle shop and heard two more shots as he was leaving, Perrin said.
Perrin told the jury they would hear how Brooks, who by then had returned to the 4Runner she arrived in, had been ordered by Osheene Massey to get into a second vehicle, a Lincoln. As she was talking to them, she heard "three distinct gunshots" and "knows in her mind what has just happened," Perrin said.
Afterward, Osheene Massey, Jawaune Massey and Ware argued about how to split the proceeds, Perrin said.
Ultimately, the clothes Brooks, Ware and Massey were wearing were burned, one gun was dropped in a lake, another gun was tossed in a dryer, and the group left home to avoid arrest, Perrin said. Jawaune Massey was arrested in Baltimore in September 2009.
In a brief opening for the defense, attorney William L. "Louis" Ricker contended Jawaune Massey is not "criminally responsible" for Nolan’s and Alexander’s deaths, and he neither robbed and killed nor conspired to rob and kill them.
He said Jawaune Massey neither conspired to distribute nor possessed with intent to distribute cocaine in Tennessee, and "definitely" didn’t maintain a dwelling to distribute the drug in this state.
Ricker said his client was not even in Tennessee on Nov. 18, 2005, but was "living openly" with his family in Baltimore until his arrest.
Ricker asked the jury to first listen to all the evidence and then return a "fair and impartial" judgment.
Jawaune Massey is also represented by attorney Douglas Payne.