Nashville teen dies in shootout

By Pinky Kansupada
Diversity Institute Fellow

08.14.03

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A teenage boy was fatally shot Tuesday night during what Metro Police described as an attempted armed robbery of a home on Mill Station Drive in Nashville.

The body of 15-year-old Justin Green, an honor student and football player, was taken from the scene while his mother looked on in dismay, neighbors said.

Police have not confirmed a motive for the shooting but said that one and a half pounds of marijuana and 30 ounces of powdered cocaine were found in the home.

Police issued an arrest warrant on Wednesday afternoon for one of the suspects, 23-year-old Benjamin Ashley Dickens.

A second suspect, Phillip S. Lillard, 21, was dropped off by an unidentified person at Baptist Hospital Tuesday night and was suffering gunshot wounds. Lillard admitted to being shot while going to Green’s house to purchase marijuana, but police were unable to question him further, said Don Aaron, Metro Police spokesman. His injuries are not “life-threatening,” Aaron said, and he has not been charged.

Police also are investigating the possibility of additional suspects who did not enter the home but may have been waiting outside, Aaron said.

This is how police described what happened on the night that Green died:

Two men entered the home through an unlocked back door around 9:30 p.m.

Green was playing video games in his bedroom with his 25-year-old brother, Christopher Crockett, when the men entered and demanded money. Green’s mother, another female and two children were also in the home.

Crockett exited the room with one of the suspects while the second suspect stayed in the bedroom with Green. Green grabbed a pistol from his room and both parties fired shots.

“There was a lot of commotion that began when the shots were fired and there were lots of shots,” Aaron said.

Green fired and wounded his assailant who fired back and killed Green, police said.

Crockett was also able to retrieve a gun and more shots were fired between him and the other man, police said. One of the suspects yelled for his partner to come to the backdoor, then both men fled.

“I heard the shots, and I heard the car pull in the drive [next door] and pull back out,” said next door neighbor Frankie Hargon, whose dining room window and adjacent wall bear the marks of a bullet gone astray.

Hargon and other neighbors described Green as an outgoing and responsible boy.

“I could time the bus by Justin because he was always the first one at the bus stop — on time,” said Hargon.

Green attended Hunter’s Lane High School. Neighbors say he wanted to play professional football.

“He was a sweet guy; it’s just sad,” Hargon said.

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Articles, photos by Summer 2003 Diversity Institute Fellows
Collection page for articles  07.29.03