Nastasia Mosley might be an innocent person caught in the crossfire of gang activity that gripped Columbia and other rural parts of Tennessee in the early 2000s.
The young mother was found shot "execution-style" behind the American Legion Post located on East End St. in Columbia, Tennessee. Her case went cold quickly, but police followed the only lead they had.
At the time, gang activity gripped Maury County and resulted in a series of shootings and deaths between January and May 2009.
They believed her unsolved murder might be relation for the murder of an innocent man a month earlier. Relland Stovall was struck by a stray bullet in his home.
When Nastasia was killed they believed the two deaths were related.
Stovall's murderers were arrested 2014.
It took eight years, but in 2017 four men were charged in connection with her death.
Anyone with information about Nastasia's death, can call Crime Stoppers at 931-281-4900 or email SafeTips@columbiatn.com.
The Victim
Nastasia Mosley was 22 years old when she was killed.
According to her obituary, Nastasia was a graduate of Columbia Central High School and a member of Hannaway St. Original Church of God.
She was survived by her daughter Tazaria Azere' Mosley; her parents Michael Hopkins and Laura Mosley; a brother and four sisters.
The Crime
On Sunday, May 3, 2009, Nastasia Mosley was found dead behind the American Legion Post located on East End St. in Columbia, Tennessee.
Nastasia was shot multiple times "execution style" in the back of the head, District Attorney General Brent Cooper said, adding “a medical examiner testified her wounds were consistent with bullets from a rifle.”
“At that time, there was a lot of gang shootings in the area,” Cooper told The Columbia Daily Herald in 2017. “There would be one shooting, then retaliation. We believe this was gang related.”
Columbia police investigated at least seven shootings between January and May 2009. Some believed Nastasia's death was related to at least one other shooting that left a beloved Columbia resident dead in his home.
On April 5, 2009, Relland Stovall, 36, was accidentally hit in the head by a stray bullet after coming home from church. He died inside his Columbia home.
The men accused of killing him – Rickey "Big Rick" Eugene Davis Jr., Deterines "Weeda" Cortae Cathey, Avery "C-Mo" Donte Harwell and Edward Christopher Claude – were indicted in April 2014 by the U.S. Attorney General’s office in Nashville. They were charged with multiple crimes including murder, attempted murder, conspiracy to commit murder, assault with a deadly weapon and possession of a weapon during a violent crime.
The indictment said the men were members of the "Kitchen Crips," a gang that operated in Mount Pleasant and Columbia areas of Maury County. TBI said gang activity from groups like the "Kitchen Crips," which originated in the 1970s in Los Angeles, more than doubled from 2007 to 2011 in the rural counties of the state.
It was during this time span that Maury County saw a steep increase in gang-related shootings.
“At that time, there was a lot of gang shootings in the area. There would be one shooting, then retaliation. We believe this was gang-related,” Cooper said about Nastasia's death.
As for the "Kitchen Crips" and their role in the death of Relland Stovall, Cooper alleged Davis, Cathey and Harwell wanted to “avenge the shooting of a Kitchen Crips member earlier” on April 5, 2009. They shot at someone else, likely members of a rival gang, in a drive-by shooting when Stovall was accidentally struck by a stray bullet.
The Columbia Daily Herald said Stovall was well-known and well-liked in the community. He was known to do odd jobs for neighbors and worked with his brother Rolland Stovall and constant companion as a cafeteria worker at Highland Park Elementary School.
“Relland’s death is the single most important sacrifice in the midst of this violence. He was truly innocent," Relland Stovall’s pastor the Rev. Trent Ogilive said in 2009.
The fourth man indicted, Edward " Big Newt" Christopher Claude was charged with conspiracy to commit murder and obstruction of justice.
According to the Columbia Daily Herald, it is believed the drive-by that resulted in Stovall's death was one of the acts an individual must perform to be admitted to a gang. "The four defendants committed the shooting in part to gain entrance, to maintain and to increase their position within the Kitchen Crips," according to the newspaper.
The Suspects
Christopher Johnson, from Leoma in Lawrence County, was the first apprehended the same day as the indictment.
In November 2017, Carlton Calloway was arrested and charged in the murder. Quintin Mostella was also arrested.
In September 2018, Jimmy Jail Abernathy was arrested on an indictment for his reported involvement in Mosely's death.
After Johnson's arrest, Cooper said Nastasia wasn't involved in gang activity.
The arrests were made after a joint investigation by the U.S. Attorney's Office, the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, and local law enforcement.
In June 2018, the Columbia Daily Herald reported Johnson had reached a plea agreement in the murder case against him. Details of the plea are unknown at this time.