Vice Lords Gang Member Convicted of Attempted Murder of Three Victims Including a Three-Year-Old

Another gang member was convicted this week after being prosecuted by members of DA Charme Allen’s Career Gang Unit. Ronald James Turner, 19, was convicted of three counts of Attempted Second Degree Murder, three counts of Employing a Firearm During the Commission of a Dangerous Felony, and three counts of Unlawful Possession of a Firearm. During the same proceeding, Assistant District Attorney TaKisha Fitzgerald showed that Turner is a member of the Vice Lords criminal street gang. Judge Steve Sword set the case for a sentencing hearing on March 3.

At trial, ADA Fitzgerald explained to the jury that on December 10, 2014, Turner and another defendant entered an apartment on Hall of Fame Drive through a balcony door. Turner confronted the occupant of the apartment and produced a handgun. He pushed the occupant into a closet and pulled the trigger of the gun, but the firearm malfunctioned and did not fire. The victim tried to defend herself with a knife, but Turner took the knife, sliced the victim’s hand, and pistol-whipped her in the head with the firearm. He then fled through the front door while shooting at the victim and two other people in the apartment, one of whom was a three-year-old child.

Turner is currently serving eighteen years in prison for a prior cocaine and firearm case. At the March sentencing hearing, Turner faces fifteen to twenty-five years on each of the three murder counts. Prosecutors will seek consecutive sentences based on the violent nature of Turner’s crimes.

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.