Isiah Primm found guilty of murder in Charlotte shooting deaths

A Dickson County jury found Isiah Primm guilty of first degree murder in the 2016 shooting deaths of two men at the Charlotte picnic grounds following a week-long trial Friday.

Primm was found guilty on five counts in the deaths of Quintin Tidwell, 29, of Dickson, and Marcedez Teroy Bell, 23, of Charlotte, and the shooting of Montae Springer, who was shot multiple times but survived.

The Dickson County Circuit Court jury found Primm, 26, guilty of two counts of first degree murder, two counts of conspiracy to commit first degree murder, and conspiracy to commit voluntary manslaughter.

Counts 1 and 2 are a mandatory life sentence. A sentencing hearing for the remaining counts is scheduled for Aug. 1. 

Defense attorney Jacob Fendley argued that no evidence showed that Primm shot Tidwell, Bell or Springer, and added that Primm was simply acting in self defense with “his house,” where his mother lived, just down the road. The defense attorneys also said Tidwell “is not a man to be trifled with,” presenting his prior arrests and a physical altercation Tidwell was involved in at the jail.

However, District Attorney Ray Crouch argued that Isiah Primm and Kurtis Primm, who reached a plea deal last year of attempted first degree murder and a conspiracy to commit first degree murder, organized an “ambush” on Tidwell and Springer the picnic grounds. Crouch said Isiah Primm put the “entire chain of events into motion” and that he, along with his cousin Kurtis Primm, and Jonathan Hughes, 30, also charged with murder, planned out the following: Using an unmarked car, sneaking through woods, and setting a “rally point” to get away.

Both sides agree that a dispute over $200 was involved in the altercation. Crouch argued that the deaths were all about “pride.”

“Pride cost the lives of Mr. Bell and Mr. Tidwell. Pride put us all in this courtroom,” said Crouch in his closing argument. 

More on the Isiah Primm trial and verdict, and on the Charlotte shootings, will be posted later on DicksonHerald.com and in The Dickson Herald print publication.

More:How Kurtis Primm murder trial ended in plea deal