Chattanooga teen sentenced to 20 years in prison for fatal 2022 shooting

This story has already been posted to the web, please send the final edited version as subtext.

PUSH

Title: Teenager pleads to murder

Post: Zion Reeves, 17, gets 20 years in prison for second-degree murder

After Kaleigh Quinn watched her boyfriend, Chandler Caylor, die from a gunshot wound, she had to recover from a bullet that shattered her femur and left her unable to walk for months.

And she was then a month pregnant with Caylor's child.

“I pray to God that karma will pay you back in full,” Quinn testified Wednesday.

Zion Reeves, 17, pleaded guilty Wednesday to a lesser charge of second-degree murder in connection with the fatal shooting of Caylor in 2022. He was sentenced to 20 years in prison.

Reeves initially faced charges of first-degree murder and felony murder.

He was also charged with attempted first-degree murder and attempted robbery, but those charges were dismissed as part of his plea deal.

Chattanooga police were dispatched on Sept. 6, 2022, to a report that a person had been shot at 14 Trewhitt St., prosecutors said.

Police found Caylor dead from a gunshot wound to the neck and Quinn suffering from a gunshot wound to the left leg.

(READ MORE: Hamilton County Has No Hate Crime Convictions in Past Decade)

Quinn testified that she tried to cover the hole in her neck while searching for her cell phone. Caylor choked out “I love you” before she died, she said.

Caylor, 21, came to Chattanooga from Cleveland, Tennessee, to sell marijuana to Reeves and two other boys, prosecutors said.

Reeves' co-defendants, Leon Abernathy and Jaylon Bell, face charges including first-degree murder, felony murder, attempted first-degree murder and attempted particularly aggravated robbery in connection with the incident.

(SUBSCRIBE: Get today's Chattanooga area news, sports and entertainment delivered straight to your inbox. Sign up for our free newsletters at timesfreepress.com/newsletters.)

The three teenagers were around 16 years old at the time.

It became clear the teens intended to rob Caylor, so he tried to run away, prosecutors said.

At that point, one of the boys pulled out a gun and fired several shots at Caylor's car.

Abernathy allegedly told police that Reeves was the shooter, and the defendants allegedly arranged the drug deal with the intention of robbing Caylor, prosecutors said.

(READ MORE: Soddy-Daisy officers on leave after testifying about fellow officer)

Quinn testified that the next time she saw Caylor, her parents had to lift her from a wheelchair to give her one last kiss goodbye.

Darlene Hawkins, Caylor's mother, said Reeves' greed, bad choices and addiction stole her son's life.

If Hawkins had known her son was selling drugs, she said, she would have reported him to police herself. She will have to live with the devastation of losing him forever, Hawkins said.

“You can spend 20 or 120 years in prison,” Hawkins said. “That will never be enough for me.”

Contact Sofia Saric at [email protected] or 423-757-6476.