The Tennessee Supreme Court has denied an appeal filed by a man convicted of First Degree Murder in Rutherford County. The denial was filed on March 23rd and the denial was officially released on Monday (March 28, 2022).

In 2016, Cassius Dominique Ivory and three other men, were arrested by Murfreesboro Police and charged in the death of 23-year-old Donte Johnson from Bartlett, Tennessee. Johnson was found dead with multiple gunshot wounds in the parking lot of the Vie Apartments in Murfreesboro March 18, 2016.

Johnson’s mother told police that her son had traveled to Murfreesboro to visit a friend.

Ivory was convicted in a 2019 jury trial under Judge David Bragg on charges of first-degree murder and especially aggravated robbery. He was sentenced to be housed in a Tennessee Department of Corrections prison for life.

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In a 2021 appeal filed by Ivory, he argued that the State failed to disclose a preferential agreement with a witness and failed to produce certain pre-trial statements. Ivory also said that the trial court failed to merge certain offenses and that the evidence was insufficient to support his convictions.

The Court of Criminal Appeals of Tennessee didn't see the conviction and sentencing the way that Ivory saw it. The Criminal Appeals Court reported that Ivory failed to establish evidence of any failure by the state or the courts.

Ivory, who lived in Humbolt, Tennessee at the time of the Murfreesboro murder, will be eligible for release on October 7, 2076. At that time, he will be 83-years of age.

Source:
M2020-01458-SC-R11-CD
Court of Criminal Appeals of Tennessee