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Episode: Case Review: Tyeasha Starks

Author: Tenderfoot TV, Resonate Recordings & Audacy
Duration: 00:46:59

Episode Shownotes

Tyeasha Starks was a vibrant young collegiate with a bright future. A student at Austin Peay State University, Tyeasha had many dreams and aspirations. The 22-year-old had recently become a new mother, and was actively working to create a better life for her and her child. But all that came

crashing down in February of 2023, when her life was taken during a custody exchange gone wrong. Despite knowing who was responsible for this egregious act, authorities have yet to bring forth charges. Tyeasha’s mother wants to know why. Follow Culpable on our socials @CulpablePodcast Visit the website at culpablepodcast.com For early access and ad-free listening, subscribe to Tenderfoot+ at https://tenderfoot.tv/plus To learn more about listener data and our privacy practices visit: https://www.audacyinc.com/privacy-policy Learn more about your ad choices. Visit https://podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Summary

In this episode of 'Culpable,' hosted by Dennis Cooper, the tragic case of Tyeasha Starks, a 22-year-old college student and new mother, is examined. Tyeasha was killed during a custody exchange in February 2023. Her mother, Tarsha Harris, shares her heart-wrenching story and frustration over the lack of accountability from authorities despite knowing the shooter's identity. The discussion delves into Tyeasha's vibrant life, the complexities of her co-parenting relationship, and the disturbing details of the incident that took her life, raising critical questions about justice and systemic failures in the investigation.

Go to PodExtra AI's episode page (Case Review: Tyeasha Starks) to play and view complete AI-processed content: summary, mindmap, topics, takeaways, transcript, keywords and highlights.

Full Transcript

00:00:00 Speaker_00
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00:01:10 Speaker_10
Culpable Case Review episodes are released on Friday. To binge the entire installment ad-free, subscribe to Tenderfoot Plus at tenderfootplus.com or on Apple Podcasts. Now, let's start the show.

00:01:27 Speaker_04
The views and opinions expressed in this podcast are solely those of the individuals interviewed and participating in the show and do not represent those of Tenderfoot TV.

00:01:37 Speaker_04
All individuals described or mentioned in this podcast should be considered innocent until found guilty in a court of law.

00:01:44 Speaker_04
This podcast contains subject matter such as violence and other graphic descriptions which may not be suitable for all audiences. Listener discretion is advised.

00:01:59 Speaker_09
Taisha's personality was unmatched. She was real. She would always keep it real with people, you know, just to let them know. And she would tell you, well, you might not like what I have to say, but I gotta let you know the truth.

00:02:13 Speaker_06
This is Tarsha Harris, the mother of Taisha Starks, the victim in this story. Taisha was a vibrant 22-year-old college student who had recently become a mother to a beautiful baby boy. In many ways, her life was just getting started.

00:02:30 Speaker_06
But it was all taken away from her in February of 2023.

00:02:35 Speaker_09
She deserves justice for what happened. My daughter's life mattered. She had her whole future ahead of her and they robbed her of all of that.

00:02:45 Speaker_06
A heated argument which led to a custody exchange gone wrong, resulting in the death of one young mother. There's no debate over who shot Taisha Starks. The question is more about what happened that fateful day, and why.

00:03:00 Speaker_06
No matter what caused that violent altercation in the front yard of a Jackson, Tennessee home, a valuable life was taken. And Tarsha wants to know why the shooter hasn't been held accountable.

00:03:11 Speaker_09
I've spoken with several other mothers that are going through the same situation. But my daughter will not be another case that you brush up on the rug. This situation with my daughter will change.

00:03:24 Speaker_06
This is a culpable case review of Tyesha Starks.

00:03:49 Speaker_09
My name is Tarsha Harris and I am Taisha's mother.

00:03:54 Speaker_06
When I met Tarsha earlier this year, the first thing I noticed about her wasn't her warm heartedness or her wide brimming smile, just like the one I saw in her daughter Taisha's pictures.

00:04:05 Speaker_06
No, the first thing I noticed was how incredibly calm she was for a mother who had lost her daughter less than a year ago. Not calm as in everything is okay, not even close, that cloud still hangs, but calm like she's actively weathering the storm.

00:04:21 Speaker_06
You can tell she's been through a lot this past year and that she's on a mission, one that's not quite complete, which is why she wanted to share Taisha's story with me in the first place, to get the word out.

00:04:33 Speaker_06
When I first heard what her story was about, and realized how many others out there could find themselves in a similar situation, I knew it was important to tell it.

00:04:43 Speaker_06
So I sat down with Tarsha to learn more about her daughter, Taisha, and the life she was building, which was taken from her far too soon. Here's Tarsha.

00:04:54 Speaker_09
I live in Brownsville, Tennessee. I was a youth counselor before all of this happened, and I did work with at-risk youth. I enjoyed it.

00:05:02 Speaker_09
Once I graduated college, I just wanted to make a difference in young girls' lives, so I just started, you know, being a mentor and being a counselor at youth villages.

00:05:13 Speaker_06
Tarsha tells me she's always worked in health care, but her passion was working with at-risk youth. She wanted to make a difference in the lives of kids who really needed someone in their corner.

00:05:23 Speaker_06
Being a mother and having a compassion for those in need, she felt that she would be an ideal candidate to help at-risk youth. After all, she raised two children of her own, a son who is now 21, and the elder, Taisha.

00:05:37 Speaker_06
And I could quickly tell just how much her kids mean to her.

00:05:41 Speaker_09
My life revolved around my children, trying to make a better life for me and my children. Tyesha was born on May the 20th, 2000. She was the joy of everyone's life, and everybody always wanted to keep her because she was the most beautiful baby.

00:06:01 Speaker_09
When she got grown, they always referred to her still as the little baby. She was a daddy's girl as well. She loved being around her father, and she was real jealous.

00:06:11 Speaker_09
My son is the youngest, but she always referred to my son as the oldest, and she was the baby. And she was beautiful. My daughter was the most gorgeous young lady, and she didn't care about putting on makeup or doing anything like that.

00:06:27 Speaker_09
She would do that for pictures or something, but that wasn't her forte, though. She didn't have to put on any makeup or anything because she was beautiful.

00:06:36 Speaker_06
Taisha, the baby, as she would liken herself, was a standout, with long dark hair, an unmistakable grin, an impeccable style, right out of a magazine. She was one of those people who just had this glow about them.

00:06:51 Speaker_06
But Tarsha tells me that beyond all her beauty, it was her personality that was unmatched.

00:06:57 Speaker_09
just a joy to be around and just always wanted to just be a help to anybody that she could. And she loved just spending time with her friends. She always pushed them to do more. She didn't meet a stranger. She was loved by everyone.

00:07:14 Speaker_06
Tayesha had a knack for finding joy and making the most out of life. It was apparent in the way she loved her friends and family, but it was also apparent in the many accomplishments she had in her short life.

00:07:25 Speaker_06
starting at a young age and never slowing down.

00:07:29 Speaker_09
She's been a cheerleader since she was five years old. She did gymnastics since she was seven. She's always been an honor student. She was in a beta club. She always said, I just want to live, Mom. I just want to do this.

00:07:43 Speaker_09
And she always talked about venturing out and how she wanted to just travel the world. And instantly, she already had her plan in place, documented all of her goals that she wanted to set this year.

00:07:56 Speaker_09
She was at Austin Peay State University majoring in biology. She had got her pharmacy technician license. She was wanting to further her career. She always talked about becoming a dentist.

00:08:11 Speaker_06
While she'd already made some major strides in life, Tyesha was never one to settle. As Tarsha mentioned, she was actively looking to further her career. She was considering dentistry.

00:08:22 Speaker_06
She'd always talked about getting out of Tennessee and moving to Texas. She had her eyes on the city of Houston. But her work in Tennessee wasn't quite finished. And ultimately, she loved being there with her family. They were always very close.

00:08:36 Speaker_09
She was always sticking up for her brother. She loved to look out for her family. And she would always, if I'm at work, call my cousin, Resha, have you talked to my mom?

00:08:47 Speaker_09
Well, let me know when she's on her way home because I'm in her room, I'm in her bed.

00:08:52 Speaker_09
She would always want to be in my bed and look at my TV in my room or go in my things and then she would try to put it back when I know, known that she's, you know, used it.

00:09:03 Speaker_09
Just surprising me with gifts out of the norm, just coming in the house with flowers or just having something on my dresser when I wake up or just sending me a text of how much she appreciates me or

00:09:17 Speaker_09
just doing little silly things, dancing around the house or trying to, she could sing, but she would just do it for a joke to just, you know, get me to laugh.

00:09:26 Speaker_06
As you can probably tell by now, Tyesha had quite the aura around her. A vibrant spirit, you could say. And not long ago, she caught the attention of a man named Bryce. I'm told the two had actually met in high school.

00:09:39 Speaker_06
But Tyesha and Bryce hit it off and quickly they formed a relationship. It started off great, according to Tarsha. They had been going strong for about a year. And that's when their dynamics suddenly changed.

00:09:51 Speaker_09
After they found out that they were having a baby, he was scared. Their relationship started getting rocky because Taisha would tell him what she didn't want to be in a relationship with him any longer. She wanted to co-parent.

00:10:05 Speaker_09
And you know, just like how young adults are, they would you know, have their ups and they'll have their downs. And once she told him that she just wanted to co-parent, he was like, well, he didn't want to co-parent.

00:10:17 Speaker_09
He wanted his baby to have a two-parent household. And I was just telling him, you know, I wanted him to succeed, both of them to succeed as college graduates, because I know it's hard, you know, for young parents.

00:10:30 Speaker_09
So I was going to do whatever I could.

00:10:33 Speaker_06
Despite the toll it took on their relationship, the young couple did their best to stay positive amidst the stresses of co-parenting and attending college. Tarsha was there to help however she could. She was more than happy to lighten their load.

00:10:47 Speaker_06
Usually, that looked like spending more time with her grandson, so she wasn't one to complain. From the moment he was born, she knew she was always going to be there for him.

00:10:57 Speaker_09
My grandson was born on January the 25th, 2022, and that was the most glorious day besides my children being born. I was there. I cut the umbilical cord. I held him first, and it was just a joy. He was with me every day.

00:11:17 Speaker_09
He would just always smile or just look for me, or when he learned how to crawl and walk, go into my room. It was just like he only was around me and Tyesha, and it's just, she always used to say, Mom, I'm not having any children.

00:11:35 Speaker_09
At first she was not eager because she was in college, but once, you know, it came into the pregnancy and she had her baby, she loved him. She just adored him and she always, even with her in class, she would call me a million times a day.

00:11:52 Speaker_09
Has he eaten anything, or is he asleep, or what's he doing now, where y'all going today?" She loved her baby, and she was a great mom. She hated that she had to be in Clarksville and be in school, but I did.

00:12:05 Speaker_09
I sat my daughter and I sat Bryce down, and I talked to them for about two hours and told them that I was going to do whatever I had to do for both of them to succeed and to finish school.

00:12:19 Speaker_06
At the time, Taisha was living in an apartment in Clarksville, near campus. And according to Tarsha, Bryce was staying with his parents in Jackson.

00:12:28 Speaker_06
I'm told there was a verbal co-parenting agreement in place that the two would split time with their son throughout the week. According to Tarsha, Bryce's days were Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday. Taisha was to have him for the remainder of the week.

00:12:41 Speaker_06
And this was really the foundation for the tragedy that unfolded on February 20th, 2023. It was a Monday. Tiesha had left Tarsha's home to take her son over to Bryce's so that she could go to school for the day.

00:12:54 Speaker_06
Tarsha says Tiesha and Bryce met up somewhere in Brownsville, Tennessee.

00:12:58 Speaker_06
Bryce left with their son and went to his parents' home in the neighboring city of Jackson, and Tiesha began her roughly three-hour drive to Austin Peay State University for class.

00:13:09 Speaker_09
And my daughter was on her way to Clarksville, and I was on my way to work. And she called me and said that Bryce just kept calling her and said that she was going to have to make some more arrangements because he had class.

00:13:23 Speaker_09
She said she informed him, well, you knew you had class until you say, you're going to have to figure things out the way I have to figure things out.

00:13:31 Speaker_06
As the two go back and forth over the phone, frustrations mount. Taisha has class, Bryce has class, and despite his parents being home at the time, someone was going to need to watch their son.

00:13:43 Speaker_06
Exhausted from all the uncertainty and the stress of missing class, Taisha eventually decided she was going to turn the car around, head to Bryce's parents' home in Jackson, pick up her son, and call it a day.

00:13:55 Speaker_09
You could tell she was upset. She was like, Mom, I'm just tired of them. And she was like, Mom, I can't focus. They keep texting me, keep calling me. I'm going to go get my baby. And I said, Tyesha, be careful.

00:14:07 Speaker_09
And I did call Bryce's mom to ask what was going on. I said, what's going on? I said, why are y'all giving my daughter such a hard time? And I said, y'all should not even be calling her. And Bryce was on the phone. He was very irate with me.

00:14:21 Speaker_09
just going back and forth. And yeah, we did get into a heated argument, me, the mom, and Bryce. And I hung the phone up. And that's when Tyesha told me she was on her way. And I said, Tyesha, be careful.

00:14:35 Speaker_06
At this moment, Tarsha had no idea that this would be the last time she'd ever speak with her daughter. She went on with her workday, assuming she'd hear from Taisha sometime later, but that call never came.

00:14:47 Speaker_06
Instead, sometime around 7 p.m., she received word from her sister that Taisha never picked up her son that day. Instead, she had been shot and killed in the process.

00:15:00 Speaker_09
I just went numb, and I just started screaming. I just immediately ran out of my job and just left. My job is an hour and thirty minutes. I know I made it by the grace of God. I drove the emergency lane or however I could to get there.

00:15:17 Speaker_09
I was just praying all the way that, you know, my daughter was okay. And once I arrived on the scene, I don't know, I just had this feeling that it wasn't good. I just seen the ambulance and police, just seen people everywhere.

00:15:33 Speaker_09
And my brother and them just try to help, you know, hold me back. They wouldn't let me get there. And I just, I don't know, it's just, it was a lot that transpired. I just know that I remember asking, you know, where was my daughter?

00:15:46 Speaker_09
And the investigator came and told me that's how you shouldn't make it.

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00:17:37 Speaker_06
So what exactly transpired that day? Well, it's kind of hard to say. The short of it is, Taisha was shot and killed while at Bryce's parents' house, attempting to pick up her son. Though, admittedly, the story is not that simple.

00:17:51 Speaker_06
But thankfully for Tarsha, she would get a more thorough account of the events, because Taisha was smart enough to bring a couple friends, or witnesses in this case, along with her that day.

00:18:01 Speaker_06
And they remained in the car for the duration of the incident.

00:18:05 Speaker_09
The witnesses in the car informed me that when they arrived to the home, they parked on the side where the mailbox was, like, parked on the street, like, and Taisha went and knocked on the door.

00:18:16 Speaker_06
As Taisha stands supposedly just off the porch, the front door opens. But it's not Bryce that answers. Instead, it's Bryce's father.

00:18:29 Speaker_09
And when he came to the door, him and Tyesha was exchanging words. He was telling her, like basically cursing her and, you know, saying things to her. And she told him, shut the fuck up, bitch ass nigga. I came over here to get my son.

00:18:45 Speaker_09
Where's my son at? And he went back in the house. They said he wasn't in the house in no time. And he came off of the porch and he was shooting.

00:18:59 Speaker_06
Now, I want to take a moment here to explain something, as it has become a point of contention in this case. And that is that Taisha was wielding a stun gun during this incident.

00:19:09 Speaker_06
The stun gun was given to her by one of her friends as a means of protection because of how hostile their exchanges have been leading up to this.

00:19:16 Speaker_06
According to a report from WREG, who contacted the Madison County Sheriff's Office about the case, they were told that, quote, the disturbance escalated and witnesses corroborated that Mrs. Starks arrived with a stun gun and was actively arching the device when she was shot.

00:19:33 Speaker_06
Now, whether the witnesses were the people inside the home or neighbors, I'm not sure, as that was not made clear in the press release. But according to Taisha's friends, she never pulled the stun gun.

00:19:45 Speaker_06
They claim that nothing physical had occurred prior to the shooting, only that some harsh words were exchanged. And then, in the blink of an eye, shots rang out.

00:19:56 Speaker_09
He shot five times. He hit my daughter in the forearm and in the chest. A bullet went in the car where the two witnesses were in the car. They didn't know that Tyesha had been shot.

00:20:10 Speaker_09
She tried to run on the side of the car, went on the passenger side and got in. And she drove away. That's when they said, she said, I can't. And she passed out.

00:20:25 Speaker_06
Somehow, Taisha was able to make it back to the car and take off down the street, but unfortunately, she only managed to drive a short distance before succumbing to her injuries and crashing into a mailbox. The fatal shot had pierced her lungs.

00:20:42 Speaker_06
Tarsha is practically at a loss when it comes to describing the events of that day. More importantly, the why, which is understandable. Regardless of the facts, she is firm in her belief that this was a senseless, unjustified killing.

00:20:57 Speaker_06
So as time passed, her focus started to shift away from the people involved and towards the Madison County Sheriff's Office. She wants to know why no one is being held accountable.

00:21:07 Speaker_09
The system has failed. And from day one, I just feel like they've treated me and my family like we're the criminals. He was never booked. He was never charged with anything. And they let him go. And they didn't let me know anything.

00:21:24 Speaker_09
The Madison County Sheriff Department informed me that the DA, Jody Pickens, informed them that they had to have more evidence. And I'm like, more evidence? You have two eyewitnesses.

00:21:36 Speaker_06
Frustrated with the authorities' early handling of the investigation, Tarsha quickly made the decision to take matters into her own hands. She got a sense of where things were headed. Nowhere. And she wasn't about to sit idly by and allow it.

00:21:50 Speaker_09
I went back over in the neighborhood a couple of days after that, and I did speak with several of the neighbors. I had one neighbor that reached out to me. He informed me that he called 911, and he saw Bryce's parents standing out on the porch.

00:22:08 Speaker_09
He was behind my daughter's car, so he saw her car swerving after the incident happened. The sheriff's department hasn't even spoken with that neighbor. I've also been doing flyers, just trying to get, you know, information in regards to my daughter.

00:22:23 Speaker_09
I did a protest at the DA's office. I have spoken on several news outlets in regards to getting my story out there. I also spoke with just different activists in Memphis, Tennessee to join me in this obtaining justice for my daughter.

00:22:42 Speaker_06
One of those advocates she's talking about is a woman named Heather Grew, who stumbled on this case by chance.

00:22:50 Speaker_09
Miss Heather has been marvelous. From day one, she's been very supportive. She's always just encouraged me to don't give up, to keep fighting, to get justice for my daughter. She's not my attorney, but she's not treating me any different from anything.

00:23:06 Speaker_09
She's just always been transparent with me, just giving me the real facts in all the situations.

00:23:14 Speaker_06
When Heather first met Tarsha over the phone, she didn't intend to become an ally in her fight for justice. But after meeting, she knew she couldn't walk away from this.

00:23:23 Speaker_11
My name is Heather Grew. I'm an attorney. I practice family law, and I worked in the family law field as a paralegal while going to undergrad in law school. I do not practice criminal law.

00:23:36 Speaker_11
I am not the attorney of record on any matter related to this, but I do have permission from the victim's mother, Tarsha Harris, to discuss the details of this matter.

00:23:45 Speaker_06
Heather tells me she's still adjusting to life as an attorney, having only been licensed for a few years now. Legal work was something she got into later in life, but it's been a welcome career change practicing family law.

00:23:58 Speaker_06
With that being her area of expertise, you might be wondering why she'd be speaking on this matter, a homicide. So I'll let Heather explain how she got connected with Tarsha.

00:24:08 Speaker_11
I served on a mental health advisory board locally that I was invited to because I speak at local abuse groups helping victims navigate the legal system.

00:24:18 Speaker_11
And the owner of the therapy group that created the board, she called me late one night, I answered it, and she said that she had a woman that she was speaking with that had some legal questions and that would I be willing to talk to her?

00:24:34 Speaker_11
So she put Tarsha Harris on the phone, on three-way, and they were asking me questions about a juvenile court matter regarding a small child.

00:24:45 Speaker_06
At first, Heather just wanted to know why this older woman was asking questions about a toddler. She could tell by the age in her voice that she likely didn't have a toddler of her own.

00:24:55 Speaker_06
Of course, she'd go on to learn that the child was Tarsha's grandson, and that she'd been fighting for her right to see him ever since the death of her daughter. More on that later.

00:25:04 Speaker_06
Seeing as Heather practices family law and often advises her clients on how to avoid confrontational custody exchanges, Taisha's story left her absolutely floored. But it also lit a fire in her.

00:25:16 Speaker_06
She's followed this story and stayed in touch with Tarsha ever since.

00:25:21 Speaker_11
Sometime in maybe late September, early October, she told me that the district attorney here had told her that he was planning to take the murderer to the grand jury.

00:25:31 Speaker_11
And I checked one morning and found the results of the October 2nd grand jury meeting. And the man's name was not on it, which means he was indicted.

00:25:42 Speaker_11
So I shot her a text and said, hey, congratulations, maybe now you'll get some movement on this and there will be some justice.

00:25:51 Speaker_11
And she said, no, the district attorney told me that he didn't put his name on there and doesn't have to, and the grand jury didn't indict. And I do not practice criminal law.

00:26:01 Speaker_11
I couldn't tell you what the DA looks like here, but it just flew all over me. Because essentially what this case is about is a woman that went to pick up her child and was killed for doing that. You know, I advise my clients how to do it safely.

00:26:17 Speaker_11
and the sheriff's department fails my clients. It's just been ignored, and she's done everything she knows to do, and thought, okay, maybe if we can get a larger platform, this'll help.

00:26:31 Speaker_06
Heather was actually the first person to tell me about Taisha's story, and she felt that reaching out to try and get Taisha's story some more exposure was one small way that she could help.

00:26:41 Speaker_06
I asked her to break down the case for me, just as she did in her original email.

00:26:46 Speaker_11
Tayshia Starks was a student at Austin Peay. She had a small child with a man named Bryce that was a student at University of Memphis.

00:26:55 Speaker_11
So they had tried to work out a situation where maybe he was getting the child half the week and she would get him the other half.

00:27:03 Speaker_11
So they tried this, and she dropped off the child at the father's parents' house, drove up to her college, and pretty much by the time she got there, he was saying, come get this kid. She was like, you're a dad, figure it out.

00:27:23 Speaker_06
As you know, a heated argument breaks out between them, with even the parents on each side getting involved. Eventually, Taisha makes the decision to go pick up her son from Bryce's parents' house.

00:27:35 Speaker_11
She calls her mom and says, I'm going to go get him. And her mom says, take some friends with you. They ride with her down there. One of them has an infant child with her. They're in the backseat. So she shows up at the house, pulls up in the front yard.

00:27:50 Speaker_11
The house is very close to the street. The yard is very small. She gets out. She tells her friend to record it.

00:27:57 Speaker_06
And one of Taisha's friends did, in fact, record the incident. We were able to get a copy of the recording, and with the family's permission, I'm going to play it. But first, a warning.

00:28:07 Speaker_06
This audio is very difficult to listen to, and includes profanity and graphic violence that may not be suitable for all listeners. If this could be triggering for you, I recommend skipping forward about three minutes.

00:28:23 Speaker_11
So from my understanding, she walks up and knocks on the door and then backed off the porch before anybody came out. You can hear in the audio that it starts off with her saying, you know, they said they got to get his stuff together.

00:28:47 Speaker_11
They won't even come to the door.

00:28:55 Speaker_06
As Taisha stands, allegedly just off the porch, Bryce's father opens the front door.

00:29:01 Speaker_11
His father comes outside and she says, where's my kid? Where's my kid? Give me my kid. He said something like, don't come over here.

00:29:09 Speaker_03
Don't come over here.

00:29:18 Speaker_11
And she tells him to shut up, but in a worse way. And he gets angry with her, says a couple more things. She pops off again. And then he goes inside the house and shuts the door. She did have a stun gun in her hand. It was very small.

00:29:42 Speaker_11
It was inside of her hand.

00:29:45 Speaker_06
While there's no denying that Taisha possessed a stun gun during the incident, I have no way of knowing whether Taisha actually used it on someone or caused physical harm in any way.

00:29:55 Speaker_06
But in the recording, just after Bryce's father returns, opening the front door, you can clearly hear Taisha arch the device, as was reported by the Madison County Sheriff's Office. And the moment she does, shots are fired.

00:30:19 Speaker_11
She put her arm up to protect herself, and there's a bullet hole through her forearm. She turned to run on the second one. He shot her under her armpit.

00:30:29 Speaker_11
It went through both lungs at a downward angle because he was coming off the porch into the yard, shooting at her. He shot into the car, and she ran around the car.

00:30:39 Speaker_11
The passenger side door was open, so she jumped over her friend into the driver's seat, hit the gas, Her foot did not let off the gas. She hit a mailbox. I think she rolled into a tree. And she was already dead.

00:31:13 Speaker_11
And all of that happened when she showed up to the time that she died. It was about a minute and 14 seconds.

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00:34:07 Speaker_06
When it comes to the events that led to Taisha's death, it's impossible to say exactly what happened, as there seems to be conflicting accounts from witnesses, and we only have an audio recording of the incident, no video.

00:34:19 Speaker_06
But determining what happened on that property that day matters in many ways, as this is a case that hinges on castle doctrine, what the National Conference of State Legislatures describes as the right to use reasonable force to protect against an intruder in one's home.

00:34:34 Speaker_06
I'll let Heather expand on this.

00:34:36 Speaker_11
So, like I said in the beginning, I'm not a criminal lawyer, but I did take criminal classes in law school, and I did work for a very prominent criminal attorney when I came out of law school. And this is what the CASEL doctrine in our state is.

00:34:50 Speaker_11
It's Tennessee Code Annotated 3911611. It's called self-defense. I'm gonna go over a few of the definitions inside of it so y'all can have an idea of how it works. The first section, A, is definitions, and one of them is curtilage.

00:35:07 Speaker_11
And they describe curtilage in this statute as an area surrounding a dwelling that is necessary, convenient, and habitually used for family purposes and activities associated with the sanctity of a person's home.

00:35:22 Speaker_11
So, that means a lot when we get to the residence definition. because a lot of people think your castle is only your home.

00:35:31 Speaker_11
The residence means a dwelling in which a person resides either temporarily or permanently, or is visiting as an invited guest, or any dwelling, building, or other opportunities within the curtilage of the residence, so the yard.

00:35:46 Speaker_06
In layman's terms, what Heather's getting at here really centers on that last line you heard regarding the curtilage of the residence. Basically, you can't look at the scene here as just the house itself.

00:35:57 Speaker_06
By definition, the incident took place at a residence, which includes the curtilage of said residence. In other words, the yard, which is reportedly where Taisha was shot. And this matters when you get into the law of self-defense.

00:36:11 Speaker_06
In some states, if a person feels threatened or that their life is in danger, they must make an attempt to retreat, say, inside their house, before using self-defense.

00:36:21 Speaker_06
But Tennessee follows Stand Your Ground law, which allows individuals to defend themselves without first attempting to retreat. And to add to the complexities, possibly the biggest subject for debate is around the notion of perceived threat.

00:36:34 Speaker_06
In other words, what degree of danger warrants the use of deadly force? I asked Heather if she believes that the stun gun Taisha was carrying rises to that degree of danger.

00:36:45 Speaker_11
Stun guns are legal in this state, they don't even need a permit, so there's nothing that defines if it's lethal or non-lethal force, I've seen in my research.

00:36:54 Speaker_11
You have to be in danger that creates a belief of imminent death, serious bodily injury, or grave sexual abuse, and honestly believe to be real at the time, and the belief of danger is founded upon reasonable grounds.

00:37:12 Speaker_06
Heather later clarified in an email that she believes what the statute is trying to say is that the shooter in this case is presumed to have held a reasonable belief of imminent death or serious bodily injury.

00:37:24 Speaker_06
But she also points out that in another section it states the presumption does not apply if the person against whom the force was used was there to pick up their child.

00:37:33 Speaker_06
which is key because it would shift the burden back to the original person using self-defense to prove they had a reasonable belief of imminent death or serious bodily injury. So you could say that there's some ambiguity around this law.

00:37:45 Speaker_06
And that's been a major sticking point when it comes to castle doctrine and standard ground laws. Who gets to say what degree of danger an individual felt they were in when they decided to use deadly force? It's up to the courts to decide.

00:37:58 Speaker_06
And no decision is likely to appease all parties because while the ability to stand one's ground can save lives, it can also take lives, as we've learned in this case.

00:38:07 Speaker_06
which is why Heather recommends her clients meet at police departments to do custodial exchanges.

00:38:13 Speaker_06
And while that's not what Taisha and Bryce elected to do on February 20th, 2023, interestingly, Bryce did place a call to police that day prior to Taisha coming to the house. And Heather worries. This has complicated matters even further.

00:38:28 Speaker_11
The father of the child called the police department three hours before she got there and said, y'all need to come. I don't know what he was thinking.

00:38:35 Speaker_11
I just know the call was made, and it's my understanding that, from what Tarsha has told me, that the police told him that was too big of a window, they weren't coming.

00:38:44 Speaker_11
And, you know, I advise my clients to meet in police department parking lots because a lot of people don't want to act out there.

00:38:51 Speaker_11
And I know that police officers don't have the time to come to every one of my clients' exchanges, or that's all they would do. But I don't know. The fact that he called, though, I think is a pretty serious factor here. I think they fear some liability.

00:39:08 Speaker_06
While Heather was able to give a lot of insight around Castle Doctrine and the laws that factor into this case, something else I was curious to learn was what investigative work the Madison County Sheriff's Office has performed in this case, if it could help explain the perceived inactivity thus far, and how it could play a factor in this case moving forward.

00:39:26 Speaker_11
So this is what I understand has been done in the investigation. According to what the district attorney and the investigator has said to the family, the phones were taken the night of the murder.

00:39:41 Speaker_11
And the district attorney claimed in March that there were outstanding search warrants that he had not been able to serve or maybe subpoenas for phones. But further in that conversation, he admits he had already downloaded these phones.

00:39:56 Speaker_11
The only one that he claimed he could not get into was Taisha's. He said that there was a code on it and that if he continued to crack the code, it would completely delete and wipe the phone clear. It was an iPhone.

00:40:12 Speaker_11
And they said, well, what if she said something to another person on her phone? Okay, let's think she did. What if she did tell a third person? What if she did say something terrible?

00:40:22 Speaker_11
Unless that third person conveyed it to the murderer prior to her showing up, it doesn't matter. They did bring the two girls in, and they asked them a bunch of questions separately.

00:40:34 Speaker_11
The DA claimed that one of the witnesses had a different version of events that happened in the beginning, but then she said a different version that kind of matched everyone else's.

00:40:46 Speaker_11
And the way I look at that, and this is what I would tell my clients in any family law case, like, you can tell me your version and they can tell me their version, but the truth is going to be that recording.

00:40:56 Speaker_11
These were young girls that were in shock and had just watched their friend die. They probably couldn't remember everything correctly.

00:41:04 Speaker_06
And this here is what makes the situation so frustrating for Heather. There were witnesses. there's a recording, not to mention there was a child inside the home and another inside the vehicle when the shots were fired.

00:41:18 Speaker_06
When you add it all up, it's troubling to say the least. And for Heather and Tarsha, the fact that no charges have come from it is all the more troubling.

00:41:27 Speaker_11
They brought the killer in the station the night of the shooting, and the investigator says that the district attorney got up and called them and said, let him go. Y'all, he's got a valid defense. Y'all need to do some more investigating.

00:41:46 Speaker_11
And the most frustrating part is for myself as an abuse victim and for my clients that are abuse victims, if there is no resolution to this, Our lives are in danger, even more than they could have been before.

00:42:02 Speaker_06
Heather tells me that getting justice for Taisha is just one part of this. The other part centers around Taisha's son, Tarsha's grandson. I'm told that she has only been able to see him a couple of times in the year following Taisha's death.

00:42:16 Speaker_06
One of the main reasons being that he's no longer living in the state of Tennessee.

00:42:20 Speaker_11
The district attorney allowed the killer and the child's father and the child to move out of the state and didn't tell anybody where they were going. He claimed that there was a threat to these people's lives put on Facebook, and there's no record.

00:42:37 Speaker_11
And I don't know why a person being investigated for a murder should be allowed to move anywhere.

00:42:46 Speaker_06
And this has actually become the biggest point of contention for Tarsha, as of late. While she wants justice for her daughter, she also understands that there's no getting her back.

00:42:55 Speaker_06
But thankfully, her grandson wasn't caught in the crossfire that day, though he easily could have been.

00:43:01 Speaker_06
Tarsha obviously deserves to be in her grandson's life, but after the district attorney allowed the child to be moved to another state, she hasn't been given that opportunity.

00:43:10 Speaker_11
There is just a cloud of questions around this. I've spoken with other attorneys that do practice criminal law around here, and they're like, this is not the district attorney. Like, this is not how he acts. He always jumps on things.

00:43:28 Speaker_11
I don't know what's happening, but hopefully something will happen so that this man will have to answer for what he's done. You know, if he has that type of anger problem that I heard in the recording, is that child safe?

00:43:40 Speaker_11
in the juvenile court matter regarding the minor child. Hopefully, Tarsha can get a set time, a set schedule, because the only thing left on the earth that has her daughter's blood in it is that child.

00:43:55 Speaker_11
And, you know, she raised that child with her daughter. And is the child traumatized? It's been taken from his mom and his grandmother.

00:44:04 Speaker_11
I hope that she gets something set up and the judge gives her something that she can look forward to, maybe seeing him at least once a month. Hopefully she gets something like that.

00:44:18 Speaker_06
In closing, I also wanted to get Tarsha's take on everything. What does she want to see happen with her daughter's case? What does she want to get off her chest? She maintained her typical calm demeanor, but she also didn't hold back.

00:44:32 Speaker_09
The system has failed. My daughter, the DCS has failed my grandson. I feel like that the Madison County Sheriff's Department, the DA, Jody Pickens, did not do a thorough investigation that night. You have two eyewitnesses. What else do you need?

00:44:49 Speaker_09
You guys robbed me of my daughter. You robbed my grandson and your grandson of his mom. You robbed him of his mom being able to hear his first word, mother, mom.

00:45:03 Speaker_09
You guys robbed him of her being able to take him to preschool, his first day of preschool. You guys robbed him of his mom being able to see each milestone in his life.

00:45:14 Speaker_09
I would want my grandson to know that his mom loved him, and she was doing everything in her power to make a better life for them, always looking out for his best interests, and always putting him first instead of putting herself first.

00:45:29 Speaker_09
And I just want him to know that his Gigi is not going to give up, that I'm going to fight for him. I am his voice right now, and I'm going to do everything I can to get him back home safely where he belongs.

00:45:44 Speaker_09
And I'm not going to stop until my daughter and my grandson receives justice. I am their voice now. I'm their voice.

00:45:55 Speaker_06
Tarsha, along with the rest of Taisha's family, asks that you please take the time to share this story with others to help get the word out.

00:46:02 Speaker_06
If you're interested in learning more about Taisha's story, Tarsha has actually created a podcast of her own titled A Hearty Heart.

00:46:09 Speaker_06
You can find it wherever you listen to podcasts, and this is another way that you can help support this family in their ongoing fight for justice.

00:46:16 Speaker_06
And lastly, if you have any information about the death of Taisha Starks, please contact the Madison County Sheriff's Office at 731-423-6000. That's it for this episode. Thanks for listening.

00:46:47 Speaker_04
Culpable is a production of Tenderfoot TV in partnership with Odyssey, written and hosted by Dennis Cooper. Executive producers are Donald Albright and Payne Lindsey. Our senior producer is John Street. Our producer is Jamie Albright.

00:47:02 Speaker_04
Supervising producers are John Street and Tracy Kaplan, with additional production by Eric Quintana, Annie Rustin, and Jordan Foxworthy. Editing by Jaja Muhammad and Sydney Evans. Mixing, mastering, and sound design by Dayton Cole.

00:47:17 Speaker_04
Our theme song is by Dirk Pour Robbins, with additional scoring by Makeup and Vanity Set and Dayton Cole. Our cover art is by Drew Bardana. Sources for this episode include WREG, WBBJ, and WKRM.

00:47:33 Speaker_04
Special thanks to the teams at UTA, Beck Media and Marketing, and The Nord Group. You can follow us on social media, at Culpable Podcast. If you enjoyed this episode, please take time to follow, rate, and review. Your feedback is greatly appreciated.

00:47:49 Speaker_04
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00:48:25 Speaker_10
Thanks for listening to this episode of Culpable Case Review. Tune back in for additional episodes releasing each Friday. For ad-free listening and exclusive bonus content, subscribe to Tenderfoot Plus at tenderfootplus.com or on Apple Podcasts.

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