CLARKSVILLE, TN (CLARKSVILLE NOW) – Two men have been found guilty by a jury during the trial for the murder of a 32-year-old man on Bennett Drive in Clarksville back in 2020.
On the evening of Jan. 15, 2020, police responded to a shootout in progress on Bennett Drive and arrived to find DeSergio Taylor, 32, with multiple fatal gunshot wounds. The suspects had fled before first responders arrived, and immediately, Taylor was taken to Vanderbilt Hospital in Nashville where he later died from his injuries.
“This was about money. A few days prior, Mr. Smith had texted the victim trying to sell a gun,” Chief Deputy District Attorney General Marianne Bell said. “The words I used in my opening and closing were ‘greed and violence.'”
On Feb. 29, 2024, Marc Crowder, 39, and Decory Smith, 38, were both found guilty of 1st degree murder and attempted aggravated robbery.
‘You know what this is’
On Jan. 15, Taylor received a phone call from one of the defendants, Smith, who said he would be coming by to visit. Taylor lived in an apartment on Bennett Drive that he shared with his brother.
At around 6:30 p.m., Smith and Crowder arrived at the apartment and were met at the door by Taylor’s brother who invited them inside.
Taylor was sitting on the couch in the living room when his brother and the two defendants came in. With the game controller in his left hand, Taylor reached up with his right to shake Smith’s hand when suddenly, Smith pulled out a gun and pointed it at him.
“You know what this is,” Taylor’s brother heard Smith say before the two defendants started shooting Taylor.
Taylor also pulled out a gun and managed to fire off one to two rounds before he was fatally shot. At the same time, his brother withdrew a gun and began firing at the defendants, wounding both before the two ran out of the apartment.
While Smith and Crowder fled the apartments, Taylor’s brother rushed over to a nearby neighbor to call 911.
After the defendants fled, they went to Crowder’s girlfriend, Ricki Adkins, and forced her to drive them to the hospital, where they were met by police.
Tampering with evidence
While officers were at the scene of the shooting, they were notified by dispatch of two individuals that arrived at Tennova Healthcare’s Emergency Room in a gray Jeep Liberty who had suffered gunshot wounds.
According to Adkins testimony, Crowder and Smith had left the guns at her house and instructed her to get rid of them by giving them to an unnamed individual on Chapel Street.
When Police tried to find this person, they were unsuccessful at retrieving the guns used in the murder.
As a result, in February of 2020, a woman named Adkins was charged with accessory after the fact and tampering with evidence. She was accused of withholding evidence and destroying evidence to hinder CPD’s investigation.
However, in exchange for her testimony, Adkins charges were never brought to the grand jury for indictment, thus, the charges were dropped.
Although the murder weapons were never recovered, a firearms and tool marks specialist deduced that the gun found in the victim’s lap and his brother’s gun were not a match to any of the six projectiles recovered from the victim’s body.
Trail of DNA and text messages
With both defendants sustaining gunshot wounds during the shooting, one being shot in the stomach and the other being shot in the leg, crime scene investigators were able to identify different blood found at the scene and forensic biologists determined it as belonging to Crowder.
Blood stains were also found on Smith’s shoes and identified as the victim’s.
“Because of the DNA, the defendants could not deny that they were on the scene,” Bell told Clarksville Now. “This wasn’t a question of identity. This was a question of ‘what happened?'”
Bell said the eyewitness testimony was important, but what sealed the deal was Crowder’s cellphone. Texts found on his phone stated that he planned to “hit a lick” that night. There were also multiple texts between the defendants from Smith saying, “Come pick me up, I’m ready, here’s my address.”
“All of those communications between them indicated that they were in this together,” Bell said.
Bell said that Taylor’s cell phone also had received a phone call that day from Smith just minutes before the murder and attempted robbery occurred.
“Clearly, there was a plan in place. The two defendants worked together, hand in glove, they both knew what was happening.”
Eager hugs and patient justice
When the verdict was finally read, Bell said the long-awaited justice had finally been delivered, and family of the victim could not wait to express their gratitude.
“They couldn’t wait to give me a hug,” Bell said as she recalled the moments after the verdict was read.
No sooner had she crossed the threshold into the benches for the public, Taylor’s family had ascended on her, gathering her into their arms for eager hugs. Bell said the bailiff had to speak up and usher them out of the courtroom so they could continue their celebration in the halls.
The family of DeSergio Taylor, who had lost his life at only 32, finally received their justice after waiting patiently for four years.
Taylor was a Clarksville native from a big family. He was one of six siblings and a father of four. Bell said he was a big sports fan and loved the Tennessee Titans. Taylor not only loved watching sports, but he loved playing them, too. He even played semi-pro football with the Tri-City Outlaws in Clarksville. Besides sports, Taylor had a passion for food and cooking, and even dreamed of opening his own restaurant.
“He was fun loving, laid back, always laughing, cracking jokes, smiling, just a really fun person who made everyone laugh,” Bell said. “He was a big teddy bear, is what his older sister said.”
Clarksville Now has attempted to reach out to Smith and Crowder’s attorneys for comment.