LEBANON, Tenn. (WKRN) — One Lebanon 20-year-old is dead and another 20-year-old is behind bars after a brutal murder in a Lebanon neighborhood Wednesday afternoon.
The shots rang out on Wilson Avenue around 2:30 p.m. That’s where police say Laquentin Hearn, 20, shot Dominic Cellucci Livingston.
When News 2 arrived Thursday morning, Sophie Livingston, the victim’s grandmother was on the front porch crying. She was sitting below a large picture of her grandson in his Lebanon H.S. football uniform.
The woman was almost inconsolable as she told News 2 how she called her grandson “my Dom,” and he called her “Nanny.”
“I’m feeling anger, hurt. He didn’t deserve this,” Sophie said. “He was my baby, my whole world, and they took him, they just took him from me. He didn’t deserve this, he didn’t deserve to die.”
According to Sophie, 20-year-old Dominic had just finished lunch Wednesday afternoon. He was on the porch and everything seems fine. “We had a good day,” she recalled.
Then the grandmother of nine recalled hearing gunfire.
“I heard the shots — ‘bam bam bam.’ They took a child from me. They took my life away from me. He was my life.”
According to Lebanon police, a silver Camry with black rims was seen fleeing the scene. LPR cameras got a lead on the driver, later identified as 20-year-old Laquentin Raymond Hearn.
While police were heading to his home, investigators say, the young driver fled past officers and the chase was on. Dashcam video showed the 20-year-old driving erratically on Hartman Drive entering I-40 West.
“…I know God wants me to forgive him. No. I will die and go to hell before I forgive that boy…”
Sophie Livingston
At one point, investigators say Hearn was doing more than 120 miles per hour.
Before Old Hickory Boulevard, the murder suspect flipped his car and slid over 100 feet on the guard rail. Four other cars suffered damage in the crash. Police say no other motorists were seriously hurt.
Hearn ran from the scene but was quickly caught by Mt. Juliet police and Wilson County deputies.
According to Lebanon police, the 20-year-old changed the look of his car, covering his black rims with silver hub caps. He also changed out of black clothes, putting on a reflective work vest.
Lt. PJ Hardy told News 2 that the murder weapon has yet to be recovered.
Back at the house, Sophie Livingston said she did not know Laquentin Hearn, but she wants him to pay for what he allegedly did to her grandson.
“I want him to die. I want him to pay. It was a senseless murder. He is a murderer. I know God wants me to forgive him. No. I will die and go to hell before I forgive that boy. He took my grandson’s life and he gets to live? I want the death penalty on him ’cause he deserves it,” Sophie said.
She also told News 2 she heard that the young man had an argument a few weeks ago.
Police told News 2 that the young men know each other from school, and the only motive that has emerged is an ongoing confrontation that has yet to be fully identified.
Laquentin Hearn is facing charges for evading arrest, reckless driving, reckless endangerment and criminal homicide. He is being held in the Wilson County Jail under no bond.
According to jail officials, before Wednesday, he had never been booked into the Wilson County Jail.
Metro police also report the 20-year-old has no prior criminal history in Davidson County.