Chancellor Eddins

Chancellor Eddins, a 35-year-old Black man, was fatally shot on the night of Saturday, February 18, 2023, outside a Nashville, Tennessee, nightclub. Eddins and a friend were at the Trvth Lounge on Dickerson Pike when they became involved in a verbal altercation with another patron. According to investigators, security guards warned the pair that it was dangerous to leave as they were exiting the club. They continued into the parking lot, where the dispute escalated and gunfire erupted around 10:30 p.m. When Metro Nashville police officers arrived, they found Eddins on the ground just outside the lounge’s entrance. He had sustained multiple gunshot wounds and was pronounced dead at the scene. His friend was also struck by gunfire and was transported to a local medical center with non-life-threatening injuries.

Homicide detectives launched an investigation, piecing together evidence from witness statements, surveillance video, and forensic work. Surveillance video reportedly captured a man, later identified as LaGarrion Blacksmith, in an area by himself firing a weapon. The police department's crime lab analyzed shell casings recovered from the scene and determined that 16 of them were fired from the same gun, which investigators were able to link to Blacksmith.

In October 2023, authorities issued arrest warrants for Blacksmith, then 34, on charges of criminal homicide, attempted criminal homicide, and being a felon in possession of a weapon. After a lengthy search, Blacksmith, then 36, was arrested in Atlanta, Georgia, on June 10, 2025, through a coordinated effort between Nashville's TITANS Unit detectives and the Atlanta Police Department. He was extradited and returned to Nashville later that month, where he was held on a $400,000 bond to await trial on the state charges.

The case took another turn in March 2026 when federal prosecutors for the Middle District of Tennessee brought an additional charge against Blacksmith for unlawful possession of ammunition by a felon. At the time of the shooting, Blacksmith was already a convicted felon from prior convictions for theft, drug possession, and being a felon in possession of a weapon. As of March 2026, the state and federal cases against him were proceeding.