Jury finds 1 man guilty of second degree murder in Caitlyn Kaufman’s shooting death
A Tennessee jury on Tuesday found one of the defendants in the murder of Butler County native Caitlyn Kaufman guilty of second degree murder, and found the second defendant not guilty.
The jury found DeVaunte Hill, 23, of Tennessee guilty of second degree murder in Kaufman’s Dec. 3, 2020, shooting death in a road rage case.
Hill testified and admitted to shooting Kaufman, 26, of Chicora while co-defendant James Cowan, 29, also of Tennessee, was driving. The jury found Cowan not guilty. Both had been charged with first degree murder.
Hill’s sentencing has been scheduled for March 3 in Davidson County Court in Nashville.
The trial began Jan. 23 with jury selection. Testimony and evidence was presented from Jan. 25 to 28. The jury of nine women and three men began deliberating Monday afternoon after attorneys made closing statements. The jury was excused early Monday evening and resumed deliberations Tuesday morning. The verdict was rendered Tuesday just before 3 p.m. Central Standard Time in Nashville.
“I just remember picking up the gun and shooting. I can’t tell you how many times I shot; I can’t tell you if I seen the woman. I just acted recklessly,” Hill testified on Saturday.
“She came from the left and just cut us off, and when Cowan hit the brakes, it startled me. I remember picking up the gun and firing the first shot, but I can’t recall how many shots, at the time, I fired,” Hill testified.
Prosecutors said six bullets struck the Mazda SUV that Kaufman was driving. One of those bullets entered her left shoulder, went through both of her lungs and aorta, and stopped in her right arm, killing her almost instantly.
When the shooting took place, Kaufman was driving to St. Thomas West Hospital in Nashville, where she worked as an intensive care nurse. Prosecutors said the shooting occurred at 6:08 p.m., and Kaufman was found in her vehicle about two and half-hours later by a police officer who thought he had come upon a disabled vehicle.
Hill was arrested Dec. 11, 2022, after an informant, Jacques Merrell-Odom, 23, of Nashville, cooperated with Metro Nashville police.
Merrell-Odom testified that Hill, a friend, asked him on Dec. 6 to get rid of a Springfield 9 mm pistol. He agreed and gave Hill his Smith and Wesson .40-caliber pistol in exchange for the Springfield.
Later that day, Merrell-Odom said Hill asked him if he had disposed of the Springfield, and told him that he used it to shoot Kaufman. Merrell-Odom said he wanted to reverse the trade, but Hill refused.
On Dec. 10, after he said he tried to reach Kaufman’s mother through social media, but did not, Merrell-Odom said he went to the hospital where Kaufman worked and told a nurse he had information about her death.
He gave police the Springfield handgun, and called Hill from the police station while officers recorded the conversation. The information provided by Merrell-Odom led police to arrest Cowan in January. Merrell-Odom collected more than $50,000 in reward money for the information he provided.
