CLARKSVILLE, TN (CLARKSVILLE NOW) – As court recessed on Day 2 of the trial for two brothers charged with the murder of a 19-year-old, the jury heard testimony from the passengers of the vehicle and the victim’s best friend, who had been living with him.
On Feb. 22, 2020, at around 9:45 p.m., police responded to a shots fired call at the 200 block of Cranklen Circle near the Clarksville Regional Airport. Responders arrived to find Malik Madison, 19, gravely injured. He was rushed to Vanderbilt University Medical Center, and six days later, on Feb. 28, Madison died from his injuries.
During the investigation, police arrested two suspects, KyJuan Fuller, 16 at the time, and Jakarius Medley, then 18, who are half-brothers.
Here are three takeaways from testimony so far in the trial.
1. Ex-girlfriend testifies
After hiding from police for three days after the shooting, Alexis Nolin-Fowler came forward and was faced with her own set of charges. In exchange for her testimony about the shooting, all charges have been set for dismissal.
Nolin-Fowler explained to the jury that on Feb. 22, she woke up at her apartment on Airport Road after drinking the night before. With her that morning was her boyfriend at the time, Medley, and a friend named Colin.
The three got in her four-door silver Mazda 3 and swung by the Burger King for breakfast with Medley in the driver’s seat. After driving around for some time, they picked up Medley’s younger brother, Fuller, and returned to her apartment to hang out.
Nolin-Fowler said that after 6 p.m. all four of them left to a Needmore Road apartment complex so that Medley could sell a vape cartridge and edibles to a 17-year-old known as “Jack-Jack.” After the transaction, Medley realized the cash Jack-Jack paid with was counterfeit. When Fuller, Medley and Nolin-Fowler went upstairs to confront him, Jack-Jack swung at Medley as soon as the apartment door opened.
The four left empty-handed back to Nolin-Fowler’s apartment, where she says Fuller grabbed a cheetah print backpack containing a gun, and they returned to the Needmore apartments.
She explained that the second confrontation didn’t go any better, and after she knocked at the door and they recieved no answer, Medley tried to kick the door down. The act was captured on a neighbor’s doorbell camera that Nolin-Fowler and Medley tried to cover.
With no success, they went to a nearby convenience store to use Colin’s hotspot since he was the only one with cell service. While at the store, Nolin-Fowler said, Medley was texting with people when Jack-Jack contacted him and told Medley to meet him to fight at a park near Jack Miller Boulevard.
According to testimony so far, it was believed that Jack-Jack was with the victim, Malik Madison.
2. Colin joins the military
Charles “Colin” Steidiger was in the passenger seat the night of the shooting. He told the jury he’d known Medley since he was 16 and considered them to be good friends but had only known Fuller for about a month.
He stayed in Nolin-Fowler’s car a majority of the night while the others were attempting to confront Jack-Jack.
Colin said he knew there was a gun in the car but as far as he knew it was there for protection in case something bad happened. When they were heading to Jack Miller Boulevard, he said he didn’t want to be there or be part of it as he started to realize what the gun could mean and how real it all was becoming. But, Colin said, he was expecting a normal altercation and he was prepared to fight for his friends.
“It was just supposed to be a fight, it wasn’t supposed to end how it did,” Colin told the jury.
After several minutes of searching for Jack-Jack and Madison outside, Medley drove to a nearby apartment complex on Cranklen Circle that he seemed to know. Colin said that after a few minutes, Medley pointed at a window on the second story and said, “There he is.” According to testimony, someone in the vehicle told Fuller to aim for the apartment’s roof since they just wanted to scare Jack-Jack and not hurt anyone.
Fuller opened fire, and they left. Colin said he was disgusted with himself.
When asked why he didn’t immediately go to the police after the shooting, Colin told the jury, “The next day I left for the military.”
Colin explained that he had gone to the Military Entrance Processing Station (MEPS), which was a necessary step in joining the National Guard. When he was done with MEPS, almost two days after the shooting, he went to the police. He did not receive any charges for his involvement.
3. A heart-wrenching 911 call
“He (Malik Madison) was like my brother,” Dayveon Young told the jury as he took the witness stand.
Young explained to the jury that Madison, his best friend and roommate, had come to live with him, his mom, and his mom’s girlfriend Brandi at the apartments on Cranklen Circle.
On Feb. 22, 2020, Young and Madison had just come inside to watch TV in his bedroom. They sat on the bed together and a few moments later, Young said he thought he heard fireworks.
The jury then listened to the heart-wrenching 911 call Young placed when he realized the fireworks were gunshots and his best friend had been hit. “Malik, stay with me,” Young could be heard pleading with him in the recorded 911 audio.
Sobs and panicked shouts took over the call as Young’s mother and Brandi tried to help Madison. “You’re a fighter, you’re strong,” Brandi could be heard telling Madison urgently. “Keep breathing, come on, fight!”
The last thing 911 audio captured before the line disconnected into sobs was a chilling sentence from Young, crying as he told the operator: “He’s gargling blood.”
The trial is set to resume Wednesday at 8:30 a.m. at the Montgomery County Courts Center.