Informant wanted to give murder weapon to Caitlyn Kaufman’s mother
The informant who provided information that led police to arrest the two men charged in the December 2020 death of Butler County native Caitlyn Kaufman in Tennessee said he intended to give the gun used in the shooting to Kaufman's mother and collect the reward money that was being offered.
Jacques Merrell-Odom, 23, of Nashville testified Thursday in Davidson County Court in Nashville that a few days after defendant DeVaunte Hill, 23, asked him to get rid of the gun that he told him he used to shoot Kaufman, he took the gun to the hospital where Kaufman worked and asked for her mother so he could give her the gun.
Hill and James Cowan, 29, both of Tennessee are facing first degree murder charges Kaufman's Dec. 3 death. Prosecutors are trying to prove that Hill shot and killed Kaufman on Interstate 440 in a road rage incident after she cut them off in traffic while Cowan was driving. Kaufman was driving to St. Thomas West Hospital where she worked as an intensive care nurse.
Merrell-Odom, who is being held in jail on charges not related to the Kaufman case, said he was talking with Hill outside of Hill's apartment on Dec. 6 when Hill said had to get rid of Springfield 9 mm handgun, but didn't say why. Merrell-Odom said he agreed to give his Smith and Wesson 40-caliber to Hill in exchange for the Springfield, and the trade was made.
