Here's what's happening in the cases of the Austin-East students who were killed this year

Travis Dorman
Knoxville News Sentinel

Months after a spate of separate shootings left five Austin-East Magnet High School students dead, two of those cases remain unsolved, one led to a guilty plea and two others prompted charges that are still working their way through the court system.

Here's where each case stands:

Justin Taylor

Justin Taylor, 15, died after being shot in the back the night of Jan. 27. The Knoxville Police Department quickly arrested another teenager in connection to Taylor's death.

Knox News is not naming the arrested teen because he was 17 at the time of the crime, and court records indicate he did not intend to shoot Taylor.

The teen was transferred from juvenile court to adult court, where he quietly pleaded guilty in March to one count of reckless homicide and one count of unlawful possession of a weapon. Records show the teen bought the gun for $400 even though, as a 17-year-old, it was illegal for him to own one in Tennessee.

Cousins of Justin Taylor, a 15-year-old Austin-East student who was killed in a shooting in January, are comforted while talking about their cousin at a Move in Love march around East Knoxville, Tenn. on Saturday, April 17, 2021. Community members gathered at Walter Hardy Park and marched through the streets of East Knoxville to call for an end to the gun violence that has killed five Austin-East students this year.

According to court records, the teen was sitting in the back seat of a car and had taken the magazine out of the gun. He was pulling on the slide of the gun when his finger hit the trigger. A bullet in the chamber fired, hitting Taylor, who was sitting in the front seat.

The teen, who's now 18, pleaded guilty and received four years of supervised probation in April. He is on judicial diversion, meaning his record will be wiped clean if he successfully completes his probation.

Stanley Freeman Jr.

Stanley Freeman Jr., 16, was driving home from Austin-East on Feb. 12 when police say two teenage boys shot at his car from another vehicle. Freeman was hit, then crashed on Wilson Avenue. He was pronounced dead at the hospital.

Knoxville police arrested two boys who were 14 and 16 at the time of the shooting. Prosecutors announced on March 15 that they were being charged with first-degree murder in Freeman's killing. The teens also face attempted murder charges in two other, nonfatal shootings.

Stanley Freeman Jr. posing in his car. Jasama Tyson, his cousin, told Knox News he enjoyed fixing cars and learned from his father.

Knox News is not naming the two teenagers because it typically does not identify juveniles accused of crimes.

The teens were being held at the Richard L. Bean Juvenile Detention Center. Prosecutors are seeking to have their cases transferred from juvenile court to adult court. The difference could mean decades of prison time for the teens if they're convicted of first-degree murder as adults.

The court proceeding to determine whether the teens can be tried as adults, called a transfer hearing, has been pushed back and is now scheduled for November.

Janaria Muhammad

On Feb. 16, Janaria Muhammad's father found her shot and bleeding badly outside the family's home on Selma Avenue. Janaria Muhammad, 15, died at the hospital.

Muhammad's family members previously said they believed police had identified two persons of interest in the case, a catch-all police term that can refer to anyone who might have knowledge about the case.

A demonstrator holds a poster with photos of Janaria Muhammad, a 15-year-old Austin-East student who was killed in a shooting in February, during a Move in Love march around East Knoxville, Tenn. on Saturday, April 17, 2021. Community members gathered at Walter Hardy Park and marched through the streets of East Knoxville to call for an end to the gun violence that has killed five Austin-East students this year.

But police have said little about what happened and why. They haven't announced any arrests, publicly identified any suspects or offered any possible motives for the crime.

Last week, Knoxville Police Department spokesperson Scott Erland said what he's said from the beginning: Investigators are working hard on the case and are making progress but have no new information that can be shared at this time.

Jamarion Gillette

Late the night of March 9, a passer-by found 15-year-old Jamarion Gillette wounded on the road leading to the University of Tennessee Medical Center. Gillette had been shot, and he died after being taken to the hospital.

Knoxville police have not announced any arrests, publicly identified any suspects or offered any possible motives in the case.

Police still haven't said where in the city the shooting occurred. There were multiple shooting calls at different locations on March 9. Investigators said previously they were awaiting forensic test results to confirm the place where Gillette was shot.

Anthony Thompson Jr.

A Knoxville Police Department officer fatally shot Anthony Thompson Jr., a 17-year-old junior, inside a bathroom at Austin-East Magnet High School on April 12. The shooting occurred after officers went to the school to arrest the teen on a domestic assault charge and found him holed up in the bathroom with a gun.

Knox County District Attorney General Charme Allen presented police body camera footage and showed some of the evidence at a press conference on April 21. Allen said she determined the shooting was legally justifiable, and that none of the four officers involved would face criminal charges.

A memorial for Anthony Thompson Jr. on the sidewalk in front of Austin-East Magnet High School on Monday, April 19, 2021.

Kelvon Foster, 21, was arrested on May 14 in connection to the case. He's accused of lying to buy a Glock Model 45 handgun for Thompson, then giving it to the teen for some cash and a bag of weed. Thompson had the gun in his hoodie pocket shortly before he was fatally shot by police.

Foster faces federal and state charges and is scheduled to appear in Knox County General Sessions Court on Wednesday.

Erland, the police spokesperson, has said the department will conduct an internal investigation after it receives the full investigative file from the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation. Last week, he said that still hadn't happened. The department has investigated what it can internally without having the file, he said.

Sean McDermott, a spokesperson for Allen's office, declined to comment.