Jason Chen pleaded not guilty Friday morning to first-degree murder and corpse abuse in connection with the death of Jasmine Pace in November.
Chen appeared briefly in Hamilton County Criminal Court, where prosecutors said they expect his case to go to trial sometime next year.
Prosecutors will seek a life sentence without the possibility of parole for Chen, Hamilton County District Attorney Coty Wamp said at the hearing. A motion declaring that intent was filed Friday morning, a docket shows.
Much of the evidence in the case is still being held at the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation, Wamp said.
"This case is still new," Wamp said.
Chen's attorney filed a motion Wednesday asking for him to be allowed to wear civilian clothes at court appearances instead of the red jumpsuit and handcuffs he appeared in Friday.
Judge Boyd Patterson said that kind of request is only granted when a case reaches trial, though he understood Chen's concerns about unfair publicity.
Chen's case is set for a status hearing June 6, giving time for evidence and discovery to be processed.
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Jason Chen pleads not guilty to murder, corpse abuse in Jasmine Pace deathTIMELINE OF EVENTS
Chen, whose bond was set at $5 million by Hamilton County General Sessions Court Judge Larry Ables on Dec. 9, was indicted on one count of first-degree murder and one count of abuse of a corpse, according to the indictment.
Chen's first appearance in Criminal Court, where he was formally charged, comes one week after he was indicted in the death of 22-year-old Pace. He waived his right to have the indicted charges read at Friday's hearing.
Pace's family reported her missing after they had not seen or heard from her for a few days during the Thanksgiving holiday.
Her mother, Catrina Pace, tracked Jasmine's white Chevy Equinox to the Signal View condominium complex at 900 Mountain Creek Road by using the MyChevy App, according to a longtime family friend, Bailey Putman.
Catrina Pace met with Chattanooga police officers at an apartment complex at 110 Tremont St. after Jasmine shared her location via text at 2:15 a.m. Nov. 23, according to the department's sworn affidavit seeking Chen's arrest.
After the police interviewed some residents of the apartment complex, it was discovered that Chen, Jasmine Pace's alleged boyfriend, was a resident of the building.
One of Chen's neighbors told officers they "heard a loud continuous female scream" coming from Chen's apartment around 2:25 a.m. Nov. 23. They also reported hearing "what appeared to sound like objects being thrown around the apartment," according to the affidavit.
Records reflect no calls were made to 911 at that time.
Police were able to gain access to Chen's apartment with a search warrant, where investigators found Pace's credit card and driver's license, but no sign of Pace or Chen.
Investigators said they found "blood transfer on the living room hardwood floor, bathroom grout, the master bedroom's carpet, and blood splatter on the bathroom wall" during a walk through, according to the affidavit.
Through the use of Bluestar Forensic Blood Agent -- a blood enhancement reagent used to reveal blood stains that have been washed out, wiped off or are invisible to the naked eye -- investigators saw large traces of blood at Chen's apartment.
"I observed an extremely large Bluestar reaction on the floor in the living room, bathroom and bedroom area," the affidavit said of the use of the blood enhancing agent. "... due to my training and experience, shows a large volume of blood had been cleaned up."
Chattanooga Investigator Zach Crawford testified at Chen's bond hearing that the trace of blood was the largest he'd ever seen.
During their investigation, detectives also obtained video surveillance footage from the Walgreens at 110 N. Market St. -- a half mile from Chen's apartment -- that showed Chen purchasing "two bottles of peroxide and bandages" at 1:41 p.m. Nov. 28, according to the affidavit.
Chen could be seen purchasing "rubbing alcohol, two more bottles of peroxide and a six-pack of paper towels" shortly after 7 p.m. also on Nov. 28, according to the affidavit.
Investigators were able to access the MyChevy App, which Pace's mother used to locate Jasmine's vehicle, and found it had been driven -- 4 miles away -- from Chen's apartment complex at Tremont Street to another apartment complex on Mountain Creek Road by someone matching Chen's description, according to the affidavit.
The Tennessee Bureau of Investigation matched blood samples taken from Chen's apartment to genetic material taken from Pace's toothbrush, according to Crawford's testimony.
Chen was arrested Nov. 29 at his family's home in Nolensville, Tennessee, where officer's observed he had "lacerations to his right hand and feet, which were indicative of him being in a physical altercation," according to the affidavit.
On Dec. 1, Pace's body was found near Suck Creek Road -- 9 miles from Chen's apartment -- and appeared to have been stabbed around 60 times, according to Chief Deputy Examiner Dr. Steven Cogswell's testimony during the bond hearing.
Contact Ellen Gerst at egerst@timesfreepress.comor 423-757-6319.
Contact La Shawn Pagán at lpagan@timesfreepress.com or 423-757-6476.
