TSU Student Acquitted In 2015 Hadley Park Shooting Death Of Friend

NASHVILLE, TN — A Nashville jury took just 25 minutes to acquit a 21-year-old man accused of shooting and killing his friend at Hadley Park in 2015.

Tennessee State University student Brandon Horton was accused in the death of fellow TSU student Craig Lambert, 19, on May 30, 2015. Originally, Horton faced a charge of first-degree murder, but Wednesday, Criminal Court Judge Seth Norman reduced that to reckless homicide. (For more updates on this story and free news alerts for your neighborhood, sign up for your local Middle Tennessee Patch morning newsletter.)

Lambert and Horton and four other TSU students — Kennedy Lanier, Brittany Redmond, Darren Terrell and Kylan Vinson — were at Hadley Park the night of May 30 with a plan to rob a drug dealer, with Lambert, Horton and Terrell all going armed.

While in a pavilion, the five survivors all testified they heard Horton's gun hit the ground and then a gunshot, but none saw which of the three guns fired, hitting Horton in the head.

Terrell said he laid Lambert in the grass and fled along with Horton and Vinson back to the dorm, where they ditched the guns, which were never recovered. Lanier stayed at the park, called 911 and said Lambert had been killed in a drive-by, though later she changed her story to say Lambert accidentally shot himself.

Image via Metro Nashville Police