TYLER, Texas (KETK) – A Tyler man charged with murdering his father in January 2019 will have his trial enter its second day on Wednesday.
39-year-old Tony Chase shot his father, 51-year-old Edward Blaylock, and claims he believed Blaylock was going to attack him during an argument.
Chase alleged to police Blaylock had beat him in the past, but prosecutors say Chase had opportunities to deescalate the situation and described the shooting as “cold-blooded murder.”
Blaylock was shot seven times by Chase and was pronounced dead at the scene. Chase called 911 immediately after the shooting and gave multiple interviews with police.
A live blog of the second day of the trial can be found below.
12:10 p.m.
Jury finds Tony Chase guilty of murdering his father and that he did not act in self-defense. They deliberated for roughly 30 minutes.
The punishment phase is expected to be completed by the end of the day.
11:35 a.m.
11:31 a.m.
“He shot his dad in the back… That is a difficult thing to comprehend. I know we have some fathers here. I couldn’t comprehend that with my own dad…And it’s sad.”-ADA Noah Coltman
11:27 a.m.
“Mr. Blaylock has been in trouble in the past. That doesn’t mean he gets to be murdered in his bed by his son.”-ADA Noah Coltman
11:24 a.m.
ADA Noah Coltman begins by saying: “Your job is not to seek reasonable doubt. It’s to seek truth…There is no reasonable doubt here.”
11:22 a.m.
11:12 a.m.
“If I know someone’s about to beat me, do I have to let them start before I try and stop it? No, that’s not the law. You have the right to stop a threat.”-Defense attorney Thad Davidson
11:08 a.m.
“Edward Blaylock beat his son. At what point does the person have the right to say ‘Stop?’ And I say he did have a right to stop Edward Blaylock.”-Defense attorney Thad Davidson
11:05 a.m.
11:00 a.m.
“Verbal provocation alone is not enough. It’s just not enough. Edward Blaylock did not have a weapon.”-ADA Elizabeth Anderson
10:57 a.m.
“Tony Chase did murder his father in cold blood.”-ADA Elizabeth Anderson
10:54 a.m.
ADA Elizabeth Anderson to give the State’s first closing argument.
10:40 a.m.
Judge Jackson now reading the jury their instructions. This usually takes about 10-15 minutes.
10:37 a.m.
Both sides working through their own objections to the instructions the jury will receive for their deliberations (the “jury charge”).
10:30 a.m.
10:25 a.m.
Back in the courtroom. About to find out if Chase testifies.
10:05 a.m.
States rests its case after Tunnel’s testimony. Nothing super impactful, other than he tested the gun Chase fired.
Jury on a break. Tony Chase will testify in his own defense. He may not have other
9:58 a.m.
Sgt. Martin’s testimony is over. Next up is Nathan Tunnel, who works at the DPS Crime Lab in Tyler. He is a firearms forensic analyst.
9:50 a.m.
ADA Coltman attacking Davidson’s theory/Chase’s story that Blaylock lunged toward Chase.
Sgt. Martin testifies that if Blaylock had been moving toward Chase, he would have expected the trajectory of the bullets to be more downward. Also, no weapons found in the room.
Coltman: “Did you find any evidence that Mr. Blaylock was exhibiting deadly force against his son?”
Sgt. Martin: “No. Only by Mr. Chase.”
Coltman passes questioning back to the defense.
9:39 a.m.
Davidson passes questioning of Sgt. Martin back to ADA Noah Coltman after roughly 40 minutes.
9:35 a.m.
9:24 a.m.
The questioning has shifted to possibilities of if Blaylock could have been standing when he was shot based on blood spatter/pooling.
While not getting a direct “yes”, Davidson is getting lots of “It’s possible” answers. Trying to sow reasonable doubt.
9:07 a.m.
Davidson’s questioning begins with explaining where Blaylock could have been where he was shot. An interesting demonstration that has him practically sitting on a stool where the bed would have been and the Det. standing in the middle of the room.
The strategy is basically to say that despite the fact Blaylock ended up laying on the bed, there is a possibility the bed was low enough that he could have tripped over it after being shot if he lunged at Chase.
8:55 a.m.
Judge Austin Jackson calls the court to order and brings in the jury.
The first witness of the day is a detective who worked the crime scene. Prosecutors already went through questioning him yesterday and defense attorney Thad Davidson is beginning his cross-examination.
