Jason Chen denied new trial in Jasmine Pace murder case

Jason Chen entering into a hearing on May 4, 2026 attempting to get a new trial (left). Jasmine Pace, the victim of the murder in November 2022 that Chen was convicted of in January 2025 (right).

CHATTANOOGA, Tenn. (WDEF)-  The man who was convicted last year in the murder of a Chattanooga woman in 2022 attempted to get a new trial Monday.

Jason Chen was convicted of stabbing 22 year old Jasmine Pace 60 times and leaving her body in a suitcase by the Tennessee River in January 2025.

A Nashville based jury convicted him in just 40 minutes.

Chen’s attorney, Amanda Morrison, sent 24 different contentions they had with the nature of that trial, arguing that Chen was not given a fair one.

In particular, they honed in on the search of Chen’s northshore apartment by the Pace family while looking for their daughter, arguing it tainted much of the evidence presented in that trial.

This was something Hamilton County Judge Boyd Patterson rejected.

Judge Patterson said, “The chain of custody does not have to be incredibly strong. It just has to be slight. There has to be no evidence of tampering. I don’t believe any evidence of tampering or a tenuous nature of the acquisition of evidence fell below the standards.”

The judge denied Chen’s request for a new trial.

Chen has the right to appeal to a higher court.

He is incarcerated at a state prison on a life without parole sentence.