Hamilton County grand jury to hear case involving car crash, corpse in trunk

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A murder case that includes a car crash, an alleged plot to collect insurance money, and a questionable confession is heading to a grand jury after a preliminary hearing Tuesday in Hamilton County General Sessions Court.

Joshua Mincy, 25, faces charges of criminal homicide, aggravated assault, unlawful carrying of a weapon, abuse of a corpse, and leaving the scene of an accident with damage. He remains in custody on a $550,000 bond.

General Sessions Judge Lila Statom sent Mincy's charges to the grand jury after prosecutors called three witnesses who detailed their involvement on April 7, the day authorities discovered the body of 47-year-old Tammy Hall in the trunk of a green Buick, riddled with seven bullets.

Executive Assistant District Attorney Lance Pope said the vehicle was registered to Hall and that police found Mincy running by a nearby home after he crashed the Buick on Norcross Street that afternoon. Officers recovered a Bersa .380 handgun in a creek near the crash scene and a projectile from Hall's body. They won't know whether the projectile matches the handgun until results come back from the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation.

Chattanooga officer Daryl Slaughter said Mincy gave him a disjointed version of events after he was arrested on April 7: He and Hall went to a trailer park in Soddy-Daisy, smoked marijuana at the Blue Hole and then linked up with an acquaintance, possibly named Hector. There was some talk of an ATM, Slaughter said, and an argument in the car, with Hector at the wheel and Mincy on the passenger side, that led to gunshots. Slaughter said he has not been able to locate "Hector."

Defense attorney Bill Speek questioned whether Mincy was in his right mind for that interview.

"He told you he'd been smoking?" Speek asked.

"Yes," Slaughter said.

"Did he look like he was on stimulants?"

"Yes."

"You would ask him questions he couldn't directly respond to?"

"Yes."

"Obviously could you be a little concerned about his level of intoxication?"

"Yes."

Speek said Mincy never admitted to killing Hall, never admitted to knowing her body was in the trunk, and asked for an attorney. The interview ended and Mincy received medical treatment. But at the hospital, Slaughter testified, Mincy told a group of officers he wanted to speak with the detective again.

Speek said his client did not request to talk to Slaughter, but they met anyway on April 10. "I think at some point Mr. Mincy had the opportunity to stop making statements and was brought back down to make more statements that weren't voluntary," Speek said.

The second interview is integral to the prosecution and the defense, because Slaughter said Mincy changed his story and admitted he knew Hall's body was in the trunk. But Speek disputed whether his client confessed at all, pointing to Slaughter's testimony that Mincy only nodded his head when asked about it.

The defense has no way to verify Slaughter's testimony, Speek said, because the detective only recorded audio -- not video.

"The first interview was done with videotape," Speek said. "The second interview, which we say Mr. Mincy did not solicit to have, was done with just an audio recording device. Frankly, when there are people testifying as to what Mr. Mincy's non-verbal cues are on a recording, that concerns me."

Other things were concerning about the second interview, too, prosecutors said.

Slaughter said Mincy changed his story: He and Hall didn't go to the trailer park. He was the driver this time, not the passenger. They smoked crack, not marijuana. During his interview with police, Mincy also told police he'd been a member of the Vice Lords gang since the age of 12.

"Again the sequence of events is all over the board," Slaughter said. "He told me [Hall's husband] was with the Vice Lords gang and they were going to kill Ms. Hall for the insurance money because [her husband] owed the Vice Lords $1,000."

Speek seized on that narrative, asking Slaughter if police had followed up on "possible information about the husband of the deceased in this case." Slaughter said Hall's husband cooperated by handing his phone over so authorities could investigate any kind of communication between him and Mincy.

They found nothing so far, Slaughter said.

If Mincy is indicted, his case proceeds to Hamilton County Criminal Court. There he will plead guilty, have his charges dismissed, or go to trial.

Contact staff writer Zack Peterson at zpeterson@timesfreepress.com or 423-757-6347. Follow him on Twitter @zackpeterson918.

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