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Jul 25, 2023

Jewell stands trial in shooting death of friend

PORTSMOUTH- The acknowledged facts are these: Rodney Queen died March 1, 2022, after a night of drinking with his friend and roommate Terry Allen Jewell at their West Portsmouth home. He sustained a

PORTSMOUTH- The acknowledged facts are these: Rodney Queen died March 1, 2022, after a night of drinking with his friend and roommate Terry Allen Jewell at their West Portsmouth home. He sustained a gunshot wound to the head around midnight on Feb. 27.

When law enforcement and EMS arrived at the scene at 410 Straight Fork, Queen had been dragged to the home’s porch, leaving a blood trail in the house. He was clad only in a T-shirt. He was still breathing.

Today, Jewell stands accused in the shooting which claimed Queen’s life. He faces two charges of murder, two charges of felonious assault, and two charges of having a weapon under disability. The charges each have different circumstances.

The trial, which began Monday, Aug. 28, in the Scioto County Common Pleas courtroom of Judge Mark Kuhn, is expected to last two days. However, the judge reminded the jury it could go into a third day. It is not a capital murder case, which means the death penalty does not apply.

Prosecutors say Jewell shot Queen in the right front side of the head with Queen’s own .38 caliber Smith & Wesson snubnose revolver. It happened around midnight. Jewell called 911 to report and allegedly admitted to the shooting. He also reportedly said within a jailer’s hearing when he was being booked: “I shot the m——-f——-.”

Defense attorney Gene Meadows said alcohol will cause people to say things that are false. He said the state has no DNA or gunshot residue evidence that Jewell shot Queen.

The prosecution, represented by Scioto County Assistant Prosecutors Scott Evans and Richard Wolfson, plan to call a several law enforcement and medical witnesses. Included in their witness list is the Montgomery County Coroner who did Queen’s autopsy and seven members of the Scioto County Sheriff’s Office

“This is a really simple story. Two friends are at home drinking on a Saturday night … when things went horribly wrong,” Evans said in his opening statement. “One of them is shot and later dies. The other is on trial here today.”

Meadows told the jurors there is simply no reliable evidence that his client shot Queen at all.

“You’re going to listen to what they tell you and you’re also going to listen to what they don’t tell you. That’s where the problem comes in, what they can’t tell you,” Meadows said. “What we know is there were two drunk guys and a gun. Generally, when you have alcohol and a gun, things go bad.

“None of it makes sense. There’s no physical evidence. Where’s the DNA? Where’s the gunshot residue? Where’s the blood on Terry’s clothes? You won’t find it.”

Prosecution witness Deputy Martin Potts testified when he approached Jewell to perform a gunshot residue test, Jewell asked for details of the test. He then refused to cooperate. Potts was also responsible for taking scene photographs the night of the incident.

Evans played the 911 call in court upon calling former sheriff’s office dispatcher Phil Duncan to the stand. Duncan now works for Minford Squad 3 and is heard talking to Jewell, who keeps asking Queen: “Why did you do that? Why did you do that, man? Please hurry up, please hurry up, please hurry up.”

Duncan said the first thing Jewell said to him on the call, though, was: “I shot my friend.”

Queen can be heard making moaning and gurgling noises on parts of the 911 call. He was transported by ambulance from the scene to a landing zone for air evacuation to St. Mary’s Medical Center.

Prosecutors say it is impossible for Queen to have shot himself, as the autopsy showed the gunshot was from too far a distance to be self-inflicted. The Montgomery County Coroner is on the prosecution’s witness list and is expected to take the stand during this trial.