Judge says he won’t suppress trove of evidence found on cell phones of teens accused in 2021 ambush murder [Video]

KNOXVILLE, Tenn. — A trove of evidence found on the cell phones of two teens accused of murdering an Austin-East High School student won’t be suppressed and can be used at their upcoming trial, a judge has ruled.

Defense attorneys for Deondre Davis, 18, and Rashan Jordan, 16, tried to convince Knox County Criminal Court Judge Steve Sword that Knoxville police used flawed search warrants in January to hunt through the white and teal cell phones of the young men.

Authorities collected the phones in February 2021 as Davis and Jordan were taken into custody at a Cathedral Lane home. As they searched the house, police also found two guns that proved to be the weapons involved in the Feb. 12, 2021, killing of Stanley Freeman Jr. moments after Freeman left Austin-East.

Authorities allege Davis was 16 and …