A Franklin detective was honored for his work on an investigation that led to the confession and conviction of a man responsible for the death of a teen.
Emilio Luis Garcia, 20, of Franklin, shot and killed 18-year-old Donovan Burdine in early 2020.
Detective Adam “A.J.” Joseph, an experienced detective who specializes in sex crime investigations, took the lead on the case in January 2020.
Joseph’s tireless investigation early on in the case led to the arrest of Burdine’s killer just a day after the fatal shooting in downtown Franklin.
When confronted with evidence, Garcia initially denied his involvement, but later confessed to Joseph, acknowledging that he took Burdine’s own gun from him and used it to shoot him in the back of the head twice.
The confession allowed the Johnson County Prosecutor’s Office to negotiate a plea deal for voluntary manslaughter, said Lt. Chris Tennell, who nominated Joseph for the commendation.
“His years working on those sex crimes prepared him for this interview that led to the admission of homicide,” Tennell said. “The night that A.J. did interview the suspect, he not only get a confession. He also got it in a professional manner, to the point that the man asked (Joseph) to become friends and asked him to visit him in prison. That’s hard to do.”
At 6:30 p.m. Jan. 25, 2020, Franklin police were dispatched to a report of several shots fired in an alley in the 100 block of Hurricane Street, behind the Boys and Girls Club of Franklin. Police found Burdine in a nearby front yard dead from multiple gunshot wounds, according to court documents.
During the course of the investigation, police determined the slaying was a drug deal gone wrong.
Burdine, Garcia and several others were gathered at a home near the Boys and Girls Club and had an altercation related to the purchase of two ounces of marijuana. The altercation culminated in a gun fight between Burdine and Garcia, court documents show.
Franklin police used nearby security footage to identify and locate the driver of the car which carried Garcia to the scene of the shooting, and that led to the identification of Garcia’s involvement in the shooting, according to court documents.
Police initially thought Garcia was intending to rob Burdine at gunpoint, but a year of work by Joseph and others who worked on the case flipped that theory on its head. It turned out Burdine had initiated the gunfight and intended to rob Garcia.
Witnesses to the shooting revealed during subsequent depositions that Burdine burst into the foyer area of the home from the shadows of another room, yelling “you know what this is” and pointing a gun at them, according to a prosecutor’s office news release.
Burdine turned and fired a shot at Garcia through the glass storm door, then ran outside after him. Garcia returned fire, striking Burdine multiple times, the news release said.
Garcia approached Burdine, disarmed him and used Burdine’s revolver to shoot him in the back of the head, according to the news release.
The prosecutor’s office downgraded the murder charge to voluntary manslaughter pertaining to the final shots that were fired in response to Garcia’s involvement in the gunfight, and the attempted armed robbery against seconds earlier, the news release said.
Garcia entered into a fixed plea agreement on March 31, and was sentenced to 18 years in prison without the possibility of any kind of modification by the court.
Murder investigations aren’t common in Franklin, so it was important to put someone with Joseph’s level of experience as lead on the case, said Kirby Cochran, police chief.
Joseph, Tennell and others contributed to investigating all angles of the case to get to the bottom of what occurred that night, Cochran said.
It is the first commendation Cochran has given since taking over as chief three years ago. The recognition is reserved for the most distinguished and noteworthy police work, he said.
