CLARKSVILLE, TN (CLARKSVILLE NOW) – Three men who pleaded guilty to federal weapons charges for their involvement in a deadly 2010 home invasion on Elder Street in Clarksville have now been arrested and charged with murder.
Blake Wright, Cornel Oliver and Jerry Dinkins were each indicted by the October term of the grand jury on one count of criminal attempt, two counts of first-degree murder and one count of especially aggravated kidnapping, according to a news release from Scott Beaubien.
Oliver, 30, was arrested in Clarksville on Tuesday, and Wright, 32, was picked up in Smyrna and brought back to Montgomery County for booking.
Dinkins, 32, was arrested near Palm Beach, Florida, and is awaiting extradition to Montgomery County, Beaubien said.
The home invasion
The charges stem from a home invasion on Oct. 27, 2010, at a residence near Elder and Washington Street that resulted in the death of Raymond Caston.
The three pleaded guilty in 2015 to federal weapons charges, according to previous Clarksville Now reports.
According to the plea agreements, the three men targeted Raymond Caston, aka Black, because he was known to cook and sell substantial amounts of crack cocaine at the house and to have large amounts of money.
When they arrived at the house, one of the three defendants kicked open the door, then all three entered and went directly to Caston, demanding his money and drugs, the agreement said.
One of the robbers hit Caston with a gun, and Caston was then forced outside, where the men continued to threaten him, the agreement continued.
People inside the house then heard multiple gunshots, but they were not outside and did not see who fired the shots, according to the agreement. The men fled, and Caston, who had been shot three times, was pronounced dead at the scene.
According to the terms of the plea agreement, Dinkins and Oliver agreed to prison terms of 25 years each, and Wright agreed to be sentenced to between 22 1/2 and 25 years in prison.
Wright, Oliver and Dinkins served 10 years each on the federal charges. However, due to changes in federal sentencing laws, all three had their sentences vacated, according to Beaubien.
Additionally, because the jurisdictions are different, the double jeopardy clause does not apply to the state’s case.
Detective Bryan Hughes is the lead investigator.