What this means for Donyell
Seven guns and one bullet, and no gun was ever matched to that bullet. The only gun with Donyell’s DNA on it, the Canik, was excluded as the murder weapon by the State’s own examiner.
The guns
- SCCY 9mm (the State’s murder weapon): from Stockton. DNA “No examination”; swab and magazine inconclusive; “no fingerprints.” Matched to the bullet only by brand-type rifling.
- Brown’s Smith & Wesson M&P Shield 9mm: four different stories about where it was found. Never test-fired against the bullet.
- Brown’s Lorcin 9mm: seized from Brown in December 2019. Major DNA from an unknown man; Brown and Donyell excluded.
- Smith & Wesson .40: ballistics lead to an earlier Chattanooga aggravated assault; database location “Found 5013 Jarred Rd” before the Stockton search. Excluded.
- Canik: from Stockton. Excluded as the murder weapon.
- Taurus .40: from Stockton. Unknown man’s DNA; Brown and Donyell excluded. Excluded.
- Guardian pistol: in the patrol officer’s report with Brown’s gun. Not part of the firearms examiner’s testimony.
The bullet
- Recovered at autopsy June 23, 2020. Held by the medical examiner 41 days, by ATF with Brown’s gun for 21 months, then sent to the TBI in October 2022.
- By then, in the examiner’s words, the damage “precludes a more conclusive determination.”
Item 177
97 rounds logged from the Grand Am on October 1, 2020, after the evidence report had ended at Item 176. See The Grand Am in South Pittsburg.