NASHVILLE, Tenn. (WKRN) — A Davidson County jury convicted a woman Friday afternoon for the “execution style murder” of a Middle Tennessee man whose body was discovered in Southern Kentucky in 2021, officials said.
According to the Metro Nashville Police Department (MNPD), 32-year-old Patrick Jamal Washington was found shot to death in a grassy area just off the shoulder of Interstate 65 near mile marker 15 outside Bowling Green on April 20, 2021.
Washington’s father had reported him missing on April 19, 2021, just a few hours after the Nashville man’s Jeep was found abandoned on the shoulder of I-65 near Madison. Washington’s vehicle not only had at least one bullet hole in it, but there was also visible blood.
On April 22, 2021, authorities announced they had arrested Jatecia Lake — who was 32 years old at the time — in a Gallatin grocery store parking lot for Washington’s murder in Nashville.
Nearly four years later, on Friday, Feb. 28, the Nashville District Attorney’s office announced Lake had been found guilty of first-degree premeditated murder and evidence tampering. The jury reportedly deliberated for three hours before returning with their verdicts.
Since the premeditated murder conviction carries an automatic life sentence, Lake will spend at least 51 years behind bars, according to officials. However, she still has a sentencing hearing scheduled in April for the evidence tampering charge.
Washington’s family praised the staff at the DA’s office — including the media analyst who showcased and explained the massive amount of surveillance footage used for the prosecution — and the MNPD detectives for their work in the case.
“The testimony proved that Lake shot Washington in the back of the head at point blank range while in his car in an East Nashville parking lot on April 18, 2021, then drove to Kentucky and dumped his body along I-65,” the DA’s office said in a statement. “She then drove Patrick’s blood-soaked jeep back to Nashville, then ditching it on the side of the road, before walking back to her car.”
According to officials, Washington’s family said justice was served, which means they can “finally have peace and celebrate their lost loved one.”
This news comes just one day after another guilty verdict was handed down for a Nashville murder from 2021.
A jury found Ralph Nevels Jr. guilty of first-degree murder after 23-year-old Miguel Ontiveros III was reportedly shot in his Hyundai Sonata while racing a Nissan pickup truck, causing him to crash in West Nashville on Oct. 22, 2021. Judge Steve Dozier told News 2 that Nevels’ automatic life sentence began immediately after he was convicted on Thursday, Feb. 27.
