CLARKSVILLE, TN (CLARKSVILLE NOW) – Jurors were shown surveillance footage, cellphone data and DNA evidence as the trial continued for the duo charged in the 2023 fatal shooting of a teenager at the intersection of Wilma Rudolph Boulevard and Holiday Drive.
Quantavious Deshawn Golliday, 29, and Curtis Tavarrez Solberg, 25, have both pleaded not guilty to all charges in the shooting death of 17-year-old Anthony Knight.
Here are six takeaways from days three and four of the trial.
1. Investigators detail evidence from abandoned truck
On the day of the shooting, Sept. 6, 2023, Clarksville Police Sgt. Zachary Goodall responded to Bauling Lane, where the abandoned dark gray Chevrolet Silverado was found. Goodall testified he kept the vehicle secure until they were ready to process it, and he collected a disposable vape that was found in the grass nearby. Jurors saw body camera footage of the vape being found and collected.
Once the truck was taken into evidence, additional items were collected from inside. CPD Sgt. Adam Price testified that he collected DNA swabs from the truck for testing. Price also collected a pack of Backwoods Russian Creme cigars, a bag of Flamin’ Hot Cheetos, and a Hi-Road cup with a blue liquid inside. Multiple pairs of shoes, water bottles, a cigar butt, shell casings, and some bullets were also recovered from the vehicle.
2. Detective explains surveillance footage
CPD Sgt. Benjamin Goble, the lead detective on the case, testified that he learned Knight had died on Sept. 10, 2023, four days after the shooting. Goble said he reviewed security footage from inside the Exxon gas station as well as exterior footage from the nearby Cracker Barrel.
Inside the Exxon, jurors saw Solberg enter with a handful of cash, and he gave some to the employee at the register before exiting. Golliday entered shortly after Solberg and began browsing in the store. Golliday was seen purchasing some snacks and a drink. While standing at the register, he was seen removing a straw from its wrapper using his mouth. A copy of Golliday’s transaction showed he purchased Flamin’ Hot Cheetos, a 20-ounce blue slushie, Backwoods Russian Creme cigars, and a turkey sandwich at about 3:15 p.m. There were no exterior cameras at the Exxon at that time.
Goble pointed out on the exterior Cracker Barrel cameras that a dark-colored truck could be seen leaving the Exxon parking lot around 3:16 p.m. He said a 20-ounce High-Road cup with “blue liquid inside of it consistent with a blue slushie” was located in the truck after police recovered the abandoned car.
Goble said following his investigation, Golliday was arrested on Sept. 13, 2023, and a cellphone was recovered from the white Toyota Camry he was occupying at the time. After further investigation, Solberg was arrested on Sept. 21, 2023. Both of the defendants’ phone records were later obtained and DNA swabs were collected.
3. Expert says truck, phone data followed similar path
Tyler Smith, a network intrusion forensics analyst with the U.S. Secret Service, testified as an expert in mobile forensics. Smith walked jurors through the data recovered from the Silverado and cellphone records.
He said the truck traveled to many places on the day of the shooting including several residential areas and multiple gas stations. It arrived at the Exxon on Cracker Barrel Drive at about 3:09 p.m. and left around 3:16 p.m. Smith said it was near the intersection where the shooting occurred about a minute later and the shooting was called in to dispatch at about 3:18 p.m. The truck ended up in the Bauling Lane area, where it was ultimately recovered, at about 3:25 p.m.
| MORE: Murder trial begins for 2 accused in 2023 killing of Clarksville teenager on highway
He also analyzed the data from cellphone carrier records associated with the defendants. Smith told jurors he could only speak to the general area of the phones and that the truck data is much more precise. He said Golliday’s phone was near the Exxon at about 3:15 p.m. and the location data that followed was consistent with the vehicle fleeing the scene. “We see that those two things are moving essentially together,” he said. “Where we saw that car track, that handset is going the same exact location that car is going.”
Smith said Solberg’s data showed he received an incoming voice call at 3:20 p.m. near the area of the Exxon and the shooting scene. There was an outgoing voice call at 3:57 p.m. near the area of Bauling Lane and surrounding neighborhoods. “We can get within a good estimation of where that phone is at the time,” Smith said. He also said there were texts messages received prior to the shooting and messages sent shortly after.
4. TBI firearms expert says 2 guns used
TBI Forensic Scientist Ladd Kuykendall, expert in firearms analysis, walked jurors through how the mechanics of semi-automatic firearms work, including the bullets and magazine. The guns used in the shooting were not recovered, so Kuykendall based his findings on the shell casings and bullets that were recovered. “These cartridge cases were not fired in the same gun,” he said.
Kuykendall testified that all 15 of the 9 mm casings came from one firearm and all 17 of the 40-caliber casings came from another. He said the murder weapons would be consistent with a 9 mm Luger and a 40-caliber Smith and Wesson.
5. DNA analyst links evidence to both defendants
TBI Agent Mariah Walkup, expert in forensic biology, testified that she compared the defendants’ DNA to the samples taken from the Silverado to determine whether or not there were any matches. “DNA is unique to every individual with the exception of identical twins,” Walkup said. “You can think of it like a genetic blueprint.”
There were several mixtures of DNA found throughout the truck. Some were from unknown contributors and some were inconclusive. She told jurors that an inconclusive finding means she cannot determine who the DNA belongs to. The straw from the truck and one of the water bottles were both a match for Golliday. Another water bottle along with the cigar bud and the vape recovered were a match for Solberg. The DNA on the shoes recovered from the truck was also inconclusive “due to the complexity of the mixture.”
Walkup said she cannot speak to when or how DNA got on somewhere. She told jurors some of the samples she received did not contain enough DNA to conduct further testing, and some of the swabs from the truck were not tested. “I chose to test the items of evidence I believed would have a good source of DNA,” she said. “In a vehicle, it is very difficult because you have a lot of people going in and out of those areas.”
The defense pointed out that a second report was later issued that matched a man to one of the unknown male contributors on a third water bottle from the truck. Walkup said that man’s DNA profile was excluded from all of the other unknown profiles present on the other samples.
Following her testimony, the state rested.
6. Defense witnesses on interactions with Golliday
Defense attorney Jake Fendley, representing Golliday, called two witnesses to speak about Golliday’s activities on the day of the shooting.
Leah Taylor, the mother of Golliday’s child, testified that they are still close. Taylor told jurors back in September 2023, she and Golliday shared a white Chevy Malibu. She said on the day in question, Golliday drove her to work in that car around 8 or 9 a.m. When he picked her up after work around 6:30 p.m., she said they hung out that evening and she did not observe anything unusual about his behavior. Taylor noted she did not know where he went or what he was doing while she was at work.
Ciara Bogur, a friend of Golliday’s, testified that they grew up together. Bogur told jurors Golliday stopped by her home on the day of the shooting in a white four-door car. “It’s normal for him to just pop up at my house,” she said. She was unsure what time he came and went but said she believed it was somewhere between the hours of noon and 3p.m. Following her testimony, the defense rested.
Court recessed Thursday afternoon and closing arguments are scheduled for Monday at 8:30 a.m. at the Montgomery County Courts Center.
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