CLARKSVILLE, TN (CLARKSVILLE NOW) – After four days of testimony and nearly six hours of deliberations, a Montgomery County jury returned a guilty verdict Tuesday for the duo charged in the 2023 fatal shooting of a teenager at Wilma Rudolph Boulevard and Holiday Drive.

Quantavious Deshawn Golliday, 29, and Curtis Tavarrez Solberg, 25, were both found guilty of the lesser included charge of second-degree murder and related charges in the death of 17-year-old Anthony Knight.

On the afternoon of Sept, 6, 2023, a red Dodge Charger was shot up and sustained about 18 bullets holes on the driver’s side of the car, according to previous Clarksville Now reports. Knight was driving the Charger and later died from his injuries. The passenger, his then 17-year-old girlfriend, was also injured but survived.

Eyewitnesses told jurors two arms were seen on the passenger side of a dark-colored truck, shooting at the Charger before leaving the scene. Following a pursuit, the truck was found abandoned on Bauling Lane.

Expert testimony revealed some of the items found in the truck had the defendants’ DNA on them, according to previous reports. The straw from the Hi-Road cup and one of the water bottles in the truck were a match for Golliday. Another water bottle along with the cigar bud and the vape recovered were a match for Solberg. Jurors also heard from a mobile forensics expert who testified that the defendant’s cellphones followed a similar path as the truck in question during and after the shooting.

Prosecution: ‘An execution in broad daylight’

Assistant District Attorney Demetrius Daniels-Hill told jurors Knight was driving his girlfriend to work and they were discussing their prom plans moments before the shooting. “It started off like any other day,” he said. “Anthony Knight and Iyana Thompson sitting there at the red light. … By the time that red light turns green, they are no longer talking about prom. Instead, there is now a funeral to plan.”

Daniels-Hill said in the midst of the busy intersection, only the Charger was targeted, describing it as “an ambush.”

“This was an execution in broad daylight … on one of the busiest roads in this town,” he said. “There’s cars all around him. Anthony Knight is stuck.” He added there were 32 bullets recovered “between both crime scenes and both guns,” arguing that each one showed intent.

Daniels-Hill showed jurors pictures of the crime scenes. He referenced witness testimony, telling jurors that two arms came out of the passenger side of the truck and that there was a tattoo on one of the shooter’s forearms. He said one witness described the timing of the shooting as “perfect” and that the shooters were able to make a “clean getaway.” He added that the defendants’ phones followed a similar path as the truck during the time in question.

“Anthony Knight was executed that day,” said Assistant District Attorney Chris West. “Their DNA and everything revolving around that truck clearly points to Quantavious Golliday and Curtis Solberg.” West added that the only white car behind the truck at the intersection during the shooting belonged to one of the witnesses who previously testified. He also pointed to the items Golliday purchased at the Exxon shortly before the shooting.

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Daniels-Hill also pointed to Golliday’s purchases at the Exxon: a blue slushie in a Hi-Road cup, a bag of Hot Flamin’ Cheetos, a turkey sandwich, and a pack of Backwoods Russian Creme Cigars. “With the exception of the turkey sandwich,” he said, “every single one of other those items is what’s found inside of the truck.” West argued when Solberg gave some cash to the Exxon clerk, he was paying for gas.

He also pointed to expert testimony about DNA evidence, saying the water bottle with Solberg’s DNA on it was in front seat cupholder on the passenger side and Golliday’s was in the backseat passenger side door. Daniels-Hill said Solberg’s DNA was also on the vape and Golliday’s was on the straw from the Hi-Road cup. “The most telling is really the vape,” West said. “It’s literally where they find the truck …. running away.”

Daniels-Hill said the state does not have to prove that both defendants were the shooters because “the driver acted with the same kind of culpability as the shooters did.” He said all of this was “too much circumstantial evidence” to ignore. “You take all that together, and that’s proof beyond a reasonable doubt,” he said.

Defense: ‘State’s case left many questions’

Defense attorney Chase Smith, representing Solberg, told jurors no one could identify Solberg as the shooter or the driver in the truck during the time in question. Smith said Solberg has “distinctive tattoos” all over his arms. “The things that the state proved to you is the stuff I told you,” he said.

Smith said Solberg’s DNA was on some of the items in the truck because he was in the vehicle earlier that day, adding the DNA analysis expert cannot speak to when or how his DNA got there. He added the phone data placing the defendants near the general area of the shooting and truck’s subsequent path during the pursuit does not prove their involvement. “They are asking you to make a specific finding off of generic information,” he said.

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Smith also pointed to some inconsistencies in eyewitness testimony. Thompson had previously testified she believed there were four masked people in the truck. He added a patrol car crossed paths with the truck and then began a pursuit, but that the officer said there were three people in the car and he also could not identify the occupants.

Smith also pointed to inconsistencies in the Exxon security footage timestamp and Golliday’s receipt. The Exxon footage shows Solberg leaving the store at about 3:02 p.m., and Golliday leaving with an unidentified man a couple minutes later after checking out. However, Golliday’s receipt showed his transaction was at 3:15 p.m. “Which one is right?” Smith questioned. He said there was not a record of Solberg making a purchase and argued there was no evidence connecting Solberg to the truck after the stop at the Exxon. “If you think he probably did it, that’s still not good enough,” he said.

Defense attorney Jake Fendley, representing Golliday, told jurors the state did not prove who the shooters were. “As we sit here today,” he said, “we really have no idea who was in the Silverado during the shooting and immediately thereafter.” Fendley said the state “attempted to pile up circumstantial evidence” to support their theory, but that there was another possibility.

He referenced prior defense witnesses testimony, saying that Golliday dropped his girlfriend off at work in their white Chevy Malibu and that when he picked her up later that evening, she did not notice anything unusual about his behavior. Fendley said Golliday had been in the truck a couple of times before with his friends, but not on the day in question. He added Golliday must have forgotten that water bottle in there and that his friend did not clean out the truck.

“And it’s not just Mr. Golliday and Mr. Solberg that have been in that Silverado,” he said. “There’s tons of DNA profiles that are located in that Silverado. … Half the neighborhood has been in that truck.” Fendley suggested the truck was sold while the defendants’ were at the Exxon before the shooting and that Solberg walked into Exxon with “a fat stack of cash.” He said Golliday was 26-years-old at the time and argued someone closer to Knight’s own age would have an issue with him. He added Golliday made those purchases in the store for the occupants of the truck, noting you have to be 21 or older to purchase tobacco products.

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Fendley also pointed to surveillance footage from the Cracker Barrel across the street from the Exxon, saying there was a white sedan arriving around 3 p.m. and leaving just before the dark colored truck at about 3:15 p.m. He suggested that was Golliday’s white Malibu. “Because the occupants of the Malibu and the occupants of the truck had finished all of their business at the gas station,” he said.

Fendley said the defendants’ were in the Malibu and ended up behind the truck when the shooting happened. “Now in a chaotic and congested intersection, one of the busiest roads in town, Mr. Golliday follows the path of least resistance to get out of there,” he said. “Which is the path that the Silverado left when the real shooters fled the scene.” Fendley also argued, following the shooting, some of the truck data did not make sense with the defendants’ phone data, calling it “weak evidence.” He said there was “not one piece of evidence” that ruled out his theory, adding that the state’s circumstantial evidence “left many questions.”

Ultimately, after nearly six hours of deliberations, the jury convicted Golliday and Solberg of the following: lesser included charge of second degree murder, lesser included charge of criminal attempt to commit second degree murder, employing a firearm during the commission of a dangerous felony, reckless endangerment, theft of property between $10,000-$60,000, and evading arrest.

Sentencing is scheduled for Dec. 9 at the Montgomery County Courts Center.

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