Episode 9 – The Verdict and Sentencing

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Transcript for this episode is here.

It's still Monday, January 20th, 2025, day 8 of the Jason Chen trial, but everything feels different. The alternates had been selected and asked to leave the courtroom. Four people who had been part of our group—sharing meals, rides, and the weight of the trial—were suddenly gone. It was a gut punch. Like a family being split apart. Because those alternates weren’t just observers; they were just as invested as the rest of us. They had listened to the same testimony, seen the same evidence, and developed their own opinions. But now, the sixteen were down to twelve. Twelve people would carry the full weight of this next decision.

Judge Patterson didn’t leave us much time to process. He continued right away, reading through our final instructions and explaining the legal framework we’d have to follow and the rules we’d need to abide by as we deliberated.

It felt surreal. Everything we’d heard and seen was now left to us to make sense of. For the first time since this murder trial began, we were allowed to speak freely, form opinions out loud, and share our thoughts, doubts, and convictions.

When the courtroom stood, and one by one, each of us walked across the hall into the jury room, it felt like stepping into a place where all the noise and chaos of the trial faded away. Where everything came down to twelve people sitting around a table, confronting the truth and trying to decide whether justice could be found in the wreckage of something so profoundly wrong. We were about to discover if we were ready for what came next.

Deliberations

The door to the jury room closed behind us at 4:12 p.m. Just before the bailiff shut it, we were instructed not to begin our discussions until all twelve members were seated and present. Once we were together, we were to select a foreperson and begin our deliberations.

I remember the quiet, the heaviness. The room felt bigger somehow—four fewer people to fill the space. And when we all finally sat down, there was a heaviness, like something final was beginning.

We needed to pick a foreperson. It quickly came down to me and one other juror. Neither of us really wanted the job. No one wanted to be the voice that would echo into the courtroom, delivering words that would shatter lives. Eventually, Juror #15 conceded, and the printed copy of the official charges that Judge Patterson had just read from was slid across the table to him. I was relieved.

But it didn’t take away the weight I felt sitting at that table. All of the evidence, all of the testimony. It all came down to one word: premeditation.

Not if Jason Chen killed Jasmine Pace. We already knew he did. His own attorney admitted to that on day one of the trial. We didn’t even have to deliberate on whether he had abused a corpse. That was also admitted.

This whole thing came down to one word: premeditation.

A word that sounds so calculated. So planned. But the prosecution had explained it differently. They described it as something that could happen in an instant. A split-second decision. And that’s what stuck with me.

In Tennessee, premeditation doesn’t have to include an extensive, drawn-out plan. It means an act done after the exercise of reflection and judgment. And that can happen in a moment. All it requires is for someone to make a conscious decision to kill and have a moment—no matter how brief—to reflect on that decision before acting on it.

General Moyle's analogy about the yellow traffic light made it click for me. It’s that moment of hesitation—that split second when you choose whether to hit the brake or the gas. Jason Chen had made his choice.

It was a huge revelation. One that reframed how I looked at this word: premeditation.

We took a vote. And it was unanimous. Jason Chen was guilty of first-degree premeditated murder and abuse of a corpse. The whole process took less than an hour. I remember saying, “They’re gonna say, ‘The jury deliberated for X minutes’ – we’ve gotta be sure. Is there anything else we should discuss?” But what else was there? We were certain.

The foreperson flipped on the light switch, and a few moments later, the bailiff knocked on the door. Forty-four minutes. That’s all it took from start to finish.

We returned to the courtroom. And the verdict was read.

DA Paul Moyle

The Verdict

We, the jury, had found Jason Chen guilty of first-degree premeditated murder and abuse of a corpse. When the verdict was read, I heard Jasmine’s family exhale. There were audible gasps… maybe even a few whispered “thank-yous,”… and the kind of tears that come from holding your breath for far too long.

But for me, it wasn’t a moment of relief. It felt heavy. Final. And it wasn’t over.

Judge Patterson announced that sentencing would occur the following morning at 10 a.m. Our role as jurors wasn’t done. We still had to decide how long Jason Chen would spend behind bars.

Watch the verdict here:

Sentencing

The next morning, January 21st, 2025, we returned to the courtroom one last time. Our suitcases were already packed and ready for departure. But before we could go home, we had one more decision to make—how long Jason Chen would remain behind bars.

Jason Chen chose not to testify before his sentencing. The only words I’d ever heard him speak were “Not guilty” on the first day of the trial.

But on this final day, the courtroom was filled with voices we hadn’t yet heard. Victim impact statements from Jasmine’s family.

First to speak was Jason Chen’s mother, Shu Fang Chen. Through tears and with the help of a translator, she begged the jury for mercy. Her plea was for them to give her son a chance to do what’s right. To come home. To start over. And for the first time during the entire trial, I saw Jason Chen cry. His mother’s pain finally seemed to reach him.

Then, Jasmine’s family spoke. Jasmine’s sister, Gabrielle, described the depth of Jasmine’s kindness and her love for her family. She spoke of Jasmine’s dreams, her devotion to her pets, and the brutal reality of having to say goodbye to her sister at a closed casket.

Jasmine’s cousin, Jacqueline White, brought a jar filled with 60 glass stones—one for each stab wound inflicted on Jasmine. She asked us to imagine those wounds on someone we loved. She read from Jasmine’s journal, offering a glimpse of Jasmine’s own words and heart.

Finally, Jasmine’s father, Travis Pace, spoke about the impact of Jasmine’s murder—how it would ripple far beyond a single generation. The pain was permanent. The loss was immeasurable.

You can watch the victim impact statements here:

Watch DA Coty Wamp share after the victim impact statements:

We deliberated again. And once more, our decision was unanimous.

Jason Chen would spend the rest of his life in prison without the possibility of parole.

It didn’t feel like a win. It felt necessary. But even then, the weight of that decision stayed with me. Because nothing we could do would ever bring Jasmine back.

Next Time on Sequestered

Episode 10 will explore what happened after the verdict was delivered. I’ll share my interview with Latricia Thomas of NewsChannel 9 and catch up with General Coty Wamp and General Paul Moyle two months after the trial.

Stay tuned.