Wanda Norris on Thursday reviewed a video of herself purchasing a room for defendant Stephen Mobley, 34, shortly after the 911 call was received for the 2016 Labor Day slayings of two women on Pinewood Drive.
Ms. Norris is Mobley’s aunt. She told the jury that she drove the defendant to the Motel 6 off Lee Hwy. in the early morning of Sept. 5. The receipt from the motel showed only Ms. Norris’s name.
The witness said she didn’t know about the shooting, which took place down the street from her house, when she brought her nephew to the motel. Ms. Norris said the defendant was not acting abnormally, did not appear to be carrying a weapon, and had asked her to get him a hotel room on previous occasions.
"I’ve done it several times before," the witness told defense attorney Eliza Williams. "I always put the rooms in my name."
The security camera from the Motel 6 showed Ms. Norris in the lobby at 6:39 a.m. Earlier testimony described Chattanooga police arriving at the scene of the crime at approximately 6:35 in the morning. 911 dispatch was still on the phone with Zirrshaddia Scott, 23 - the only surviving victim of the shooting - when officers kicked down the door.
Prosecutor Cameron Williams brought to attention a conversation Ms. Norris had had with Detective Chris Blackwell on July 3, 2018. A transcript revealed the detective asking the witness if she had taken Mobley to the Motel 6 immediately after he arrived at her house. At the time, Ms. Norris had responded that she had, but in court on Thursday, she said she didn’t recall how much time had elapsed.
"I may have said ‘immediately,’ but I cannot recall," she told prosecutor Williams. "I do not recall exactly how long it was. ... If I used that term ‘immediately,’ I do not recall."
Ms. Norris said she later picked up the defendant on the side of the road, near the Wilcox Tunnel, so he could turn himself in to authorities.
The night before, Mobley had posted a video to Facebook where he claimed he was innocent. The video was played in court.
"I know there’s two sides to every coin. ... I fixin’ to turn myself in," Mobley can be heard saying in the recording. "An everybody get your m-----f------ facts right. ... Aint no p---y gonna make me go on no m-----f------ rampage."
In the recording, Mobley also advised viewers to leave his aunt and mother alone.
Sergeant William Steve Campbell of the Chattanooga Police Department described an attempt to observe Mobley at the Motel 6 on the afternoon of the shooting. He said Mobley came out of his room, smoked a cigarette, and stared at the unmarked police car before walking around the front of the building.
Sergeant Campbell said officers lost sight of the defendant at that time. He said when a SWAT team entered Mobley’s room later that evening, the defendant was not inside.
Investigator Tim Pickard told prosecutor Williams that Mobley was placed on the TBI’s Top Ten Most Wanted list. It was after this that the defendant posted the Facebook video and later turned himself in to police.
A firearms expert from the TBI said that though the 10 shell casings collected from the scene of the crime all were fired from the same gun, they did not match the dust-covered pistol found at the scene of the crime. However, these casings were linked to another Chattanooga shooting, which took place on Feb. 3, 2016.
In earlier testimony, Dan Reed, father of David Reed, said Mobley threatened his son after the slayings. David Reed is related to Mobley through his biological father. He testified Wednesday after being brought to court by police.
Dan Reed said Mobley called his son shortly after David Reed was interviewed at the police station.
"(David’s) phone rung, and he answered it, and he had this really, you know, s--- look on his face," said the witness. "I raised that boy from day one ... so I know when I see a fearful look on his face."
Dan Reed said when he asked his son who had called, he replied, "It’s Dollar."
The witness told prosecutor Williams that he took the phone from his son and said to Mobley, "Why the ---- did you kill my people?"
Dan Reed said he was referring to Jasmine Hines, 22, and Rashaud Taylor, 23, who were shot to death earlier that morning in David Reed’s home on Pinewood.
The witness said Mobley denied murdering the victims. Dan Reed called him a liar and the defendant hung up the phone. It was after this that the witness asked his son what Mobley had said to him.
"(David) told me that Stephen asked him what the police were saying to him, and that he better not say nothing," said Dan Reed.
Following the call, the witness said he went next door to the house of Wanda Norris, Mobley’s aunt. Dan Reed said relatives of both his and Mobley’s were present on the porch.
"Stephen just threatened my son, and if he (messed) with him there’s gonna be hell to pay," the witness said he told the group. "You know, that’s family talking to family, saying you gonna do some ------ up s--- to your family. ... It’s all messed up."
Prosecutor Williams asked about Dan Reed’s relationship to the defendant and victims. The witness said Taylor, Ms. Hines, and Zirrshaddia Scott, 23 - the sole survivor of the shooting - had been close to his son for over a decade. He said the friends had a rap group.
Defense attorney Eliza Williams asked if the witness recalled Mobley ever recording songs with Ms. Hines and the others. Dan Reed agreed that he had seen them in the studio together.
In earlier testimony, Ms. Scott stated she and Ms. Hines had never met Mobley before the weekend of the shooting.
A TBI special agent said gunshot residue was not found on the clothing or hands of David Reed or Mobley. He told defense attorney Mike Little, however, that the clothing was collected several hours after the shooting and that washing hands or clothes could erase evidence.
Another special agent described the process of collecting DNA samples. He said there were multiple unknown DNA profiles found at the scene, but that this is not surprising to find in a party environment.
The witness told defense attorney Little that the five items that matched or were consistent with Mobley’s DNA profile were beer cans. Attorney Little also listed many of the items from the scene not tested for DNA, including lottery tickets, possible swabs of blood from the wall and floor, and the front door knob.