CLARKSVILLE, TN (CLARKSVILLE NOW) – During the attempted murder trial for Richard “Kenny” Woodson – charged with three counts of attempted first-degree murder in a drive-by shooting – the prosecution fought to lay out evidence for the jury while the defense looked to stir doubts in their minds.
On the night of Nov. 14, 2020, police responded to a shots fired call on Roselawn Drive. According to documents obtained by Clarksville Now, the victims were standing on the porch of the home when a white Chevrolet Impala drove past several times. The victims claimed they saw Woodson in the passenger seat of the car before he fired shots. Luckily, there were no injuries.
Here are four takeaways from this week in the trial.
1. Missing video evidence
Former CPD Officer Rosa Hyatt was the responding officer on the night of the shooting. She told the court that the scene was chaotic with victims and witnesses talking over each other to tell their version of the events. After a while, she was able to speak with each one separately and have them provide detailed written statements.
The jury watched footage from Hyatt’s body cam in which Unique Hall could be heard telling Hyatt, “I said, ‘Kenny, get out the car, why you keep driving back and forth!'”
However, what came next in the footage was a surprise: Hall showed Hyatt a video she had taken of the car driving by. Hyatt told Hall to send the video to her work phone for evidence. It is unknown if the video was ever sent. Later on in the year, Hyatt took maternity leave, and when she returned to duty, she had forgotten the password to her work phone. Technicians had to factory reset the phone, causing Hyatt to lose all of the information on it, and potential evidence.
2. Ex-lover speaks
Deshaya Allen, charged with the same crimes as Woodson, testified that although Woodson was married, they began a two-year-long relationship. Allen and Hall had been best friends, but toward the end of Hall’s pregnancy, the friendship fell apart and the two women began a violent feud.
At around 7 p.m. the night of the shooting, Allen left work early and rode around with Woodson and another person to find Hall. When they found her, Allen opened the door to get out and fight, but Woodson told her to get back in. Allen said Woodson took off his black shirt and wrapped it around his hand and arm, then rolled down the window and opened fire. According to Allen, Woodson wasn’t the only one shooting, and Jabis Griffin fired back, so she dropped down and hid in the floorboard.
“He (Kenny) told me to delete everything and deny everything. Because as soon as he got picked up, I was gonna get picked up,” Allen told the jury. “Until he came and got me and tried me for five hours, I kept lying,” she said, pointing to Detective Darren Koski, the detective who arrested her.
Currently, Allen has no deal with the prosecution but is hoping for a lighter sentence in exchange for participating in the trial against Woodson.
PREVIOUSLY: Trial begins in 2020 drive-by shooting at Roselawn Drive in Clarksville
3. Reluctant witnesses
Many witnesses who were on Roselawn Drive night took the stand to recount their version of events. However, not all of the witnesses were eager to speak. Hall and Griffin expressed their reluctance to testify. Griffin’s responses consisted of not knowing and not remembering.
“Mr. Griffin, I know you were not very happy to be here this week,” Assistant District Attorney Kayla McBride told him. “Why were you unhappy about that?”
“Because I don’t have nothing to do with it, and I’m a man,” Griffin responded curtly. “I was just going to go pick up my wife. Whatever she’s got going on, I don’t know. I was just coming to pick up my family.”
During defense attorney Jake Fendley’s cross-examination, Griffin explained, “As long as they did what they did, then that’s it. I’m a man, I don’t got nothing to do with what females fight about.”
4. Misleading love letters?
On Dec. 24, 2020, Allen wrote a letter to Woodson while they were both incarcerated, stating, “I want to apologize for my wrong. … Baby, even though I’m mad at you and I’m hurt, and even though you hate me as well for this mess, I’m sorry I lied, and I’m still all yours,” the note said.
Fendley asked Allen if she was apologizing for lying about Woodson’s involvement, but Allen said she was lying to Woodson about talking to police.
One letter said “Hey, why are you stressed out? What are you so worried about? What’s really on your mind? You didn’t do nothing wrong to get locked up this time. So be strong.”
“Kenny taught me how to write,” Allen argued. “He taught me how to talk. We talked every morning on the phone.”
“‘I’m sorry I lied, you must hate me for this mess,'” Fendley continued reading. “How about this one? ‘I can’t act like I don’t love you … I don’t care who’s speaking on me. … We both know who was in that courtroom. And everything I so-called said and everything that was said was a lie. I know you didn’t shoot.'”
The trial is set to resume Monday at 8:30 a.m., and Woodson is expected to testify.