State Seeks Enhanced Penalty after Second Degree Murder Conviction

Brandon Scott Donaldson, 24, faces a minimum of eighteen years in the Tennessee Department of Corrections after a jury convicted him of multiple crimes. Following a five-day trial, Donaldson was convicted of two counts of Second Degree Murder for the deaths of Marcia Crider and her unborn child. The jury also convicted Donaldson of the Attempted Second Degree Murder of Pebbles Crider and Employing a Firearm During the Commission of a Dangerous Felony. Assistant District Attorneys Kevin Allen and Molly Martin prosecuted the case presided over by Judge Steve Sword.

The case arose out of an altercation in February 2013 where Donaldson fired eleven (11) rounds at Marcia Crider and her mother as they drove away after an argument. Crider was struck by two of the rounds, one of which killed her unborn child. She was thirteen-weeks pregnant. Donaldson is the first defendant convicted in Knox County under a law that allows for the prosecution of defendants who murder a fetus, regardless of the viability of the unborn child. Under prior law, the fetus had to be viable in order sustain a charge for murder.

The State will ask the Court to sentence Donaldson to the maximum penalty allowable under the law: seventy-two (72) years in prison. Judge Sword set a sentencing hearing for March 6, 2015.

If you have any questions, please contact Sean McDermott at 865-215-2515 or Sean.McDermott@knoxcounty.org. For more information about the District Attorney’s Office, visit our website at dag.knoxcountytn.gov and follow us on Facebook and Twitter.