Trial for man charged in deadly home invasion enters day 3

JACKSON, Tenn. — The man charged with killing an Arkansas State University football player and his stepfather in 2014 returned to court Thursday.

Security was tight in the courtroom for day three of the trial for Johnny Wade. Jurors listened to hours of testimony from law enforcement.

TBI Special Agent Eric Warren, a forensic scientist, testified bullets pulled out of victims Markel Owens and Johnny Shivers plus suspect Derrick Wade all came from the same gun.

Warren said shell casings from inside the home on Walker Road where the shooting happened also came from that gun. “If I wasn’t entirely positive, I wouldn’t have put it in my report,” he said.

The prosecutor showed jurors cell phone video of the defendant, Johnny Wade, firing a gun in December 2013, about a month before the killings. The judge did not let jurors hear audio from that video.

Jackson Police Department Investigator Chris Chestnut testified they found shell casings on Betty Manley Road in Madison County. “When I arrived, they had already located some of the shell casings,” Chestnut said.

Jackson Police Department Investigator Robert Groves told jurors Johnny Wade’s cell phone pinged off a tower not far from the home where the shooting happened just minutes before the initial shots-fired call went out.

Groves described texts from Wade’s phone that night. “At 9:21, he sends another one out, 9:21, he gets another one in, 9:21, he sends one out again,” Groves said.

The defendant and victims both have relatives at the courthouse for the trial.

Wade wore a white t-shirt to court Thursday. Before testimony began, the judge asked if he was OK with what he was wearing. Wade said yes.

The prosecutor said he still has several more witnesses to call, then the defense will get a turn to argue their side of the case.