CLARKSVILLE, TN (CLARKSVILLE NOW) – As the jury trial for a man charged with kidnapping and murder in a 2017 home invasion continues, the jury heard from the father of the victim and two co-defendants.
On Nov. 7, 2017, two armed men entered a home on Hundred Oaks Drive and confronted four occupants; then gunfire erupted. Christopher Lane, 34, was shot and later died from his injuries. Lane’s father, Lonnie, was fired at several times, and two others in the home were held against their will.
In April 2021, Timothy Lebrone Williams, 34, and two others were indicted by a grand jury. Williams was charged with multiple counts of aggravated kidnapping, burglary, robbery and first-degree murder.
Here are four takeaways from testimony so far.
1. ‘If I moved, he’d shoot me’
After going to bed at 9 p.m., Chris’ father, Lonnie Lane, was wakened by the sound of a gunshot. Lonnie told the jury he jumped out of bed and ran downstairs. Once he was on the landing, he saw three people, Chris’ two friends sitting on the bed being held at gunpoint by a Black man with dreads. When he reached the bottom of the stairs, the intruder turned the gun on Lonnie.
“He said if I moved, he’d shoot me,” Lonnie recalled. “I didn’t know what to do, so I took off running, and I heard two or three shots and felt the heat from the bullets.”
Lonnie raced back to his bedroom, the intruder giving chase. He couldn’t lock the door, so Lonnie held his body against it as he felt the man slamming against the door. “I tried calling 911, but I was having trouble,” Lonnie said. “I hollered ‘911!’ and he stopped pushing the door.”
2. Cell phone search and text history
When Warren Broomer, the second defendant, was arrested in 2021, police took several items from him, including his cellphone.
Retired CPD mobile forensic analyst Debra Kolofsky was able to extract the data and history from the device to piece together Broomer’s digital footprint that night. Text messages between Broomer and Williams show the two communicating before the crime.
“I’m here at Ashley,” Williams wrote to Broomer. Witness testimony would later identify “Ashley” as Williams’ cousin.
“On my way,” Broomer responded.
“Bet how long you think we gone,” Williams wrote back.
“When we get there we going to handle it. 45 minutes at the max,” Broomer replied.
Pictures on the phone show a party that night at Ashley’s and website history ranging from Clarksville Now coverage of the crime to questions like, “How long does it take to process DNA in a crime lab?”
3. Duffel bag with guns
Though Williams is the only one on trial, two others were arrested on the same charges: Broomer and Matthew Bryan, who both took the stand wearing inmate jumpsuits to tell their version of events.
Bryan testified that the week of the crime, Broomer told him he was looking to buy 2 pounds of marijuana and wanted to know if he knew anyone. A few days later, Bryan spoke to Chris about selling “his friend” (Broomer) a few pounds of weed, to which Chris agreed.
The day of Nov. 7, Bryan took Broomer to Chris’ home to buy a small sample to see if it was good quality before leaving. Later that night, Bryan went to Broomer’s home while they waited on Williams to show up. When he did, Bryan said, Broomer and Williams went into another room to talk, and something felt off.
Bryan drove the trio to Hundred Oaks Drive, but when he got there, he said, Williams produced a duffel bag and pulled out an AR-15 and a shotgun. Williams took the shotgun and gave the rifle to Broomer before the two men left Bryan in the car to go in the house.
Bryan testified that the two returned a few minutes later, seemingly out of breath from running. “I went to leave, and I said, ‘What the hell happened?'” Bryan told the jury. “And Tim said, ‘Ya boy thought this was a game. I left that (n-word) guts hanging out.”
Bryan said after they left, he expressed wanting to go home but Broomer and Williams told him no, since he lived close to the crime and they needed to get rid of the guns. They went back to Ashley’s house, where Broomer handed off the guns and eventually dropped Bryan off within walking distance of his home.
Bryan has no deals with the state but is hoping to get one in exchange for truthful testimony.
4. Trip leads to firing 2 shots
Broomer, who is Williams’ brother-in-law, also testified that on the day of Nov. 7, he and Bryan went to Chris’ home to buy a test amount of weed. While outside the victim’s home, Bryan concocted the plan to rob Chris later that night, Broomer said.
That evening, Broomer said, they met at Ashley’s house where he got a pair of gloves to wear during the robbery before Bryan drove himself, Broomer, and Williams to the house. Williams then handed Broomer an AR-15 and took a shotgun for himself before they exited the vehicle and broke into the home.
Inside, they held three occupants at gunpoint: a woman, a man there buying drugs, and Chris. While he held the man and woman at gunpoint, Williams confronted Chris, “He (Williams) kept telling him to give it up (cash, drugs) but Chris wasn’t complying, so he (Williams) kept walking back and forth. … Next motion after that, I heard a shot go off.”
Seconds later, Lonnie came downstairs. Broomer said he tried to approach him and tell him, “It’s going to be all right, just chill out,” but Lonnie ran, and Broomer chased him, giving the two victims the opportunity to escape. Broomer testified that he chased him to the top of the stairs and then tripped, accidentally firing two shots.
In exchange for his truthful testimony, Broomer is receiving 15 years at 85% for aggravated robbery.
The trial continues Thursday morning in Montgomery County Court.
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