TENNESSEE
Three men plead guilty today to being involved in a home invasion robbery where an alleged drug dealer was shot to death, according to authorities.
Cornell Oliver, 23, and Blake Wright, 25, plead guilty today to using a firearm in a crime of violence resulting in death.
Jerry Dinkins, 26, pleaded guilty last month to the same offense. Wright and Oliver will be sentenced on Nov. 10 and Dinkins will be sentenced on Oct. 23, officials said.
According to the plea agreements, on Oct. 27, 2010, Oliver, Dinkins and Wright participated in a home-invasion robbery at a crack house in Clarksville, Tennessee.
The defendants targeted the house and the victim 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 cash, according to officials
The plea agreements state that, when the defendants arrived at the house, one of the defendants kicked open the door.
At the time, at least eight people were inside the house. The defendants then entered and demanded money and drugs from Caston.
One of the defendants hit Caston with a gun. After Caston indicated that he did not have money or drugs, the defendants forced Caston outside. People inside the house then heard multiple gunshots, but did not see which of the defendants actually fired shots, officials stated.
The defendants then fled, and Caston, who had been shot three times, was pronounced dead at the scene.
DNA and other physical and forensic evidence collected at the scene and eyewitness accounts also connected the defendants to the murder, officials stated.
Clarksville Police Department and the Drug Enforcement Administration investigated this case.