Prosecutors used Jordan Allen’s actions after the deaths to challenge his account to jurors.
GREENEVILLE, Tenn. — The hours after two family members were killed became central evidence in a Greene County murder trial that ended with Jordan Allen convicted and sentenced to life without parole in the deaths of his brother and grandmother.
Prosecutors asked jurors to look beyond the crime scene and follow Allen’s movements after the April 2022 killings. They said the then-16-year-old left the family home on Old Snapps Ferry Road, visited a friend, went to Little Caesars and then bought headphones at Walmart after Jessie Allen, 7, and Sherry Cole, 59, were killed. Allen, now 20, said those choices came from shock, not guilt. The jury rejected his denial and found him guilty of two counts of first-degree murder.
The state’s questions about the pizza and headphones were aimed at Allen’s explanation of what happened. Allen testified that he saw his grandfather, Bill Cole, attack the victims with a hammer and that he later lied to investigators because he feared him. Prosecutors said that claim did not match Allen’s recorded confession to Tennessee Bureau of Investigation agents. They also pressed him on why he did not tell a friend, restaurant worker, Walmart employee or police officer that his brother and grandmother had been attacked. Allen said he was not thinking clearly and was trying to cope with the shock of what he had seen.
The killings took place in a family home in Greeneville, a small East Tennessee community southwest of Johnson City. Jessie Allen was Allen’s younger brother. Sherry Cole was his grandmother. Jurors heard that both were attacked with a hammer. Testimony showed Jessie suffered severe head injuries, including multiple skull fractures and lacerations. The medical examiner told the court the blows to the child were fatal. Cole suffered bruising to the brain, lacerations on the top of her head and stab wounds to the back of her neck. The prosecution used those findings to describe a violent and intentional attack inside the home.
Allen’s trial began Monday and reached the jury Friday morning. The panel started deliberating shortly after 9 a.m. and returned guilty verdicts a little after 11 a.m. During deliberations, jurors heard again from one of Allen’s recorded interrogations. Prosecutors said that recording included his admission that he killed the two victims. The defense argued the statement was false and driven by fear. The court then moved into sentencing, where prosecutors asked jurors to impose life without parole because of the nature of the killings.
Allen’s testimony gave jurors a second account. He said he had a difficult childhood, that he had lived in an abusive home before moving in with grandparents and that fear shaped what he told investigators. His public defender pointed to one of Allen’s earlier statements in which he said he would rather kill himself than harm his little brother because Jessie had already had a rough life. Prosecutors answered with Allen’s later statement, telling jurors that he confessed to killing Jessie in the next interview. The trial then became a direct test of which version jurors believed.
The defense’s effort to place blame on Bill Cole brought the family’s grief into the courtroom. Allen said Cole was the person he saw with the hammer. Prosecutors asked whether Allen had ever seen Cole hurt Jessie, Sherry Cole or Allen himself. Allen acknowledged he had not. He said Cole sometimes raised his voice. The state argued that an accusation made for the first time under trial pressure could not overcome the confession, the timeline and the physical evidence. Bill Cole was not charged in the killings.
After the verdict, Assistant District Attorney General Ritchie Collins described the case as one where no one won. Collins said Bill Cole had been accused of something he did not do and had lost his wife of 44 years and two grandchildren. His comments came after a trial that forced jurors to hear graphic medical testimony and painful family claims. Public Defender Todd Estep also offered condolences after the sentence, saying he wanted the community to keep everyone involved in prayer.
The final sentence gave Allen life in prison without the possibility of parole. Because Allen was 16 at the time, the sentencing phase carried added weight. Prosecutors still argued that the murders met the legal standard for the harshest available punishment. The jury agreed. The result means Allen will not have a parole date tied to the Greene County convictions unless a higher court later changes the judgment or sentence.
The record now shows a completed trial, two first-degree murder convictions and a life-without-parole sentence. The case could continue through post-trial filings, but the next step would come from written motions or an appeal filed after judgment.
Author note: Last updated June 20, 2026.