Chen gets life without parole as Pace’s family confronts him
Photo of Jasmine Pace (Courtesy: Catrina Bean)
CHATTANOOGA, Tenn. (WDEF)- Monday, a Nashville based jury convicted Jason Chen of first degree murder and abuse of a corpse in the November 2022 killing of Jasmine Pace.
They came to that verdict after hearing testimony that proved Chen stabbed Pace 60 times, and then left her body inside of a suitcase off of Suck Creek Road on November 23, 2022.
Tuesday, that same jury had to decide whether Chen got a life sentence with, or without, parole.
Jason Chen learned that he will serve a life sentence without the possibility of parole.
Before that decision, family members of Jasmine Pace got to finally confront the man that took their beloved daughter away from this world.
With 60 stones, Jasmine Pace’s cousin Jacqueline White put a visual of how many times her beloved Jazzy was stabbed.
She said, “What were her last words? How are you such a coward that you have to bind a 98 pound innocent female? Giving her no chance of even fighting back… There has never been one shred of regret, humanity, or normalcy, shown from this empty eyed beast. He is beyond saving.”
While Chen himself elected not to take the stand during the sentencing hearing, his parents did.
However, his mom, Shu Feng Chen, opted not to apologize directly to the family.
She said (translated from Mandarin), “He is a good child. He knows right from wrong. He had a sudden passion. He made mistakes.”
Pace’s family however, wanted the jury to know about the light that they lost that November night.
Jasmine’s sister, Gabby Pace, said, “For all of the trauma that Jazzy endured, she still had the most beautiful aura and soul. She never gave up on other people and she never gave up on herself.”
Hamilton County District Attorney Coty Wamp took on this case shortly after being elected to her position in 2022.
She remarked after the ruling, “There are murderers, and then there’s Jason Chen. It is the next level of murder. It is depravity.”
Attorney General Wamp says this case was uniquely personal.
She says, “I hope in this county we never see any case like it. That’s why it was so impactful on this community and why everyone has been following it. We have homicides here. Most of them are shootings, that’s no secret. This hits different.”
Attorney General Wamp emphasizes that this case was not about Jason Chen, but it was about getting justice for Jasmine Pace.
She said, “We really do need to make these cases about victims. They have families, they have families… They matter. That’s the easiest way to say it.”
The defense has already filed appeals on prior hearings regarding the Pace family’s search of Chen’s apartment, arguing Chen’s Fourth Amendment rights were violated.
