How Isiah Primm was found guilty of murder, faces life sentence.

Chris Gadd
The Tennessean

The murder trial was again about a family on opposite sides.

The Dickson County Circuit Court was filled with relatives — some seated behind the defense attorneys, some behind the defendant, Isiah Primm, and his lawyers.

Primm was ultimately found guilty of first degree murder in the deaths Quintin Tidwell, 29, of Dickson, and Marcedez Teroy Bell, 23, of Charlotte.

But before the jury’s verdict was returned 1:45 a.m. Saturday, May 25, the family element was apparent, starting four days earlier when Montae Springer testified. Springer was the lone living victim from the April 12, 2016 Charlotte shootings the left two others dead. By Friday, his brother DeAnthony Vaughn was on the stand answering questions from District Attorney Ray Crouch.

“Did you shoot (Montae Springer) on April 12,” Crouch asked.

“No sir,” Vaughn replied.

A rumor had spread after the shooting that Vaughn was the perpetrator. That rumor gained traction when Elaine Haggins, who lives near the Charlotte picnic park where the shootings took place, testified that she heard gunshots at home, and looked out to see a “tall, skinny, black dude all dressed in black.”

Primm’s attorney Jacob Fendley asked if the man she saw was Isiah Primm or Kurtis Primm.

“No,” said Haggins, who is related to both Primms.

She said that person chased Springer and shot him multiple times.

Three suspects arrested in the April shooting deaths of Quintin Tidwell and Teroy

Crouch later asked Haggins if it’s possible she saw Jonathan Hughes, 30, who is the third person facing murder charges in the shooting. Hughes’ trial is set for August.

“Did you know that (Hughes) is 6 feet 4 inches tall?” Crouch asked Haggins.

She said the shooting started while she was in the kitchen.

“By the time I ran to the door, they were still shooting, but there was one person shooting,” Haggins said. “I am here to tell the truth.”

Her testimony combined with Vaughn’s admission he was in the Charlotte picnic grounds area earlier in the day led to talk of Vaughn’s possible involvement.

During Crouch’s questioning, Vaughn said he felt “bad” about the rumors circulating he killed Tidwell and shot Springer, who are both his brothers.

Vaughn said he paid Isiah and Kurtis Primm the $200 owed to them by Tidwell two days before the shooting.

“It was supposed to be over with,” Vaughn said.

“We are all family. That’s not supposed to happen,” Vaughn said. “That should never have happened. We love each other, man. We are tight. All of us.”

“I cannot explain what happened that day,” Vaughn added. “That should not have happened.”

Final arguments

Fendley said his client Isiah Primm is “not guilty” but “did make mistakes.”

“He got into it with Quintin Tidwell. That’s a mistake,” said Fendley, adding that Tidwell “is not a man to be trifled with.”

“He fought four armed guards over a phone call and with one blow, he detached a man’s retina from his eye,” Fendley added.

Crouch later argued that the incident, where Tidwell was asked to hang up his phone call with his mother while in jail, happened about 10 years ago.

“Another mistake: Isiah pulls a gun he has not intention of using,” Fendley said. “He pulls the gun and fires it into the air.”

“Isiah is laid out by Quintin Tidwell and gets so hard his shoe flies off,” Fendley continued.

Isiah Primm’s shoe was found at the shooting scene afterward by authorities.

“Next mistake, Isiah runs away,” said Fendley, adding that Isiah Primm left a gun behind.

Fendley also argued that if the shooting was a “grand plan,” then why didn’t the shooters simply drive by and shoot Springer and Tidwell while they were in the picnic grounds.

Crouch, during the final closing argument, repeated that “this was planned.”

“A vehicle that cannot be traced. Think about that. Weaponize yourself, a vehicle that can’t be traced. Dropped off at Duke’s Market (just up the street from the picnic grounds). The vehicle they chose to use could not be traced and today still has not been found,” Crouch said.

Crouch also said the defendants were the only people at the grounds with weapons. He also said that all three victims were “shot in the back.”

A wrecked car on Dotson Street in Charlotte that was involved in the shooting that left two people dead, including the person in the car.

“Since when is being shot in the back being the aggressor?” Crouch added.

Crouch added that after Isiah Primm fired the first, shot “they all had the right to kill him. But they didn’t. They couldn’t. One, because they were ambushed. Two, because they were unarmed.”

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.

Verdict

The verdict delivered by the jury in court presided over by Larry Wallace on May 25 was the following:

Count 1: 1st Degree Murder - Guilty - sentence life in prison

Count 2: 1st Degree Murder - Guilty - sentence life in prison

Count 4: Conspiracy to Commit 1st Degree Murder: Guilty

Count 5: Conspiracy to Commit 1st Degree Murder: Found guilty of less charge of Conspiracy to commit voluntary manslaughter.

Count 6: Conspiracy to Commit 1st Degree Murder: Guilty.

The sentencing hearing for counts 4, 5 and 6 is scheduled for Aug. 1 at 10 a.m.