Teen to face trial as adult

Witnesses can’t ID suspect in murder case

The state’s two key eyewitnesses against a Memphis teen gang member testified during a Shelby County Juvenile Court hearing Wednesday that they didn’t actually see the face of the gunman who shot their friend in the back.

Both previously had identified suspect Delavunte Moody, 15, from police lineups as the shooter, according to the Memphis police affidavit.

Moody sat in front of his parents and dabbed at tears during the hearing to decide whether to transfer him to adult court on murder charges.

Prosecutors described Moody as a gang member with a long history of trouble at school, including threatening a female student with a gun and threatening to bring a gun to school to use on an inschool suspension teacher.

During his transfer hearing in Juvenile Court, the witnesses, ages 17 and 19, no longer identified Moody as the gunman who shot at them, killing their friend.

When questioned by prosecutor Tracye Jones, they denied that they changed their version of events in the death of Jabriel Coleman, 18, because of any intimidation by Moody or other members of his gang, Spring Valley Mob.

“I didn’t see the shooter,” the older witness testified.

Special Judge Dan Michael asked, “How did you pick him out of a lineup?”

The witness said, “The police was making us say that.”

The judge responded, “OK, quiet.”

The younger witness said he had seen Moody with a handgun earlier the night of the May 10 killing. But he said he didn’t actually see who fired five shots at him, the victim and three other friends because they were running.

The teen said Coleman fell to the street in the 3400 block of Bradcrest Drive and said: “I got hit.” He ran to help Coleman, rolling up his shirt and placing it under his friend’s head.

“He was holding his side,” but didn’t say anything else, the teen testified.

The state’s third witness, another 19-year-old, also said he never saw the shooter’s face.

All three testified that at some point the night of the killing, they saw Moody — whom they called “Dae Dae” — holding a handgun. But one of the witnesses also quipped: “I’m used to seeing people in the streets with guns every day.”

The teens, who live near Raleigh-Egypt High School, said some of their friends are members of the Fast Cash gang and had wandered into the rival gang’s territory.

They described a male, who wasn’t Moody, holding a gun in the air and ordering them to leave the Spring Valley neighborhood.

The judge, citing the initial statements to police given by the trio – “who were good friends of the deceased” – said he still found probable cause that Moody committed the killing and transferred his case to adult court.

Michael said a jury or judge in adult court will have to reconcile the eyewitness discrepancies.

The prosecutor presented school records showing that Moody, who turned 15 in April, had been in trouble 23 times at school, including 16 times during the past two years.

A school threat-assessment team, including two psychologists and a school social worker, quoted the teen’s father describing his son as “quick tempered, prone to bullying and an instigator who’s always in the middle of everything,” the prosecutor said.

The school team considered the father a positive role model who tried to keep his son away from gangs. The two worked together laying carpet and mowing lawns.

The judge set bond at $500,000.

Wednesday afternoon, Tennessee Gov. Bill Haslam held a ceremonial signing in Memphis for legislation designed to increase punishment for criminal gang offenses.