Woman mourning grandma seeks boyfriend’s comfort, then he kills her, TN officials say
A 22-year-old woman sought out her boyfriend for comfort hours after her grandmother died, then he’s accused of stabbing her 60 times and stuffing her body in a suitcase in Tennessee.
Jason Chen was convicted of first-degree murder and sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole. McClatchy News reached out to his attorney for comment Jan. 22 but did not immediately receive a response.
The 98-pound body of Jasmine Pace was found in a suitcase in the woods a few yards from the Tennessee River near Chattanooga in 2022, Hamilton County District Attorney General Coty Wamp said in an opening statement broadcast by Court TV.
Someone had put Pace’s body in three garbage bags before stuffing her in the suitcase in the fetal position, with her ankles shackled to her wrist and arm, Wamp described.
Chen’s fingerprints were found on the garbage bags, the district attorney general said.
“He stabbed her over and over and over again,” Wamp told the jury. “Not seven times, not 29 times, not 43 times, but 60 stab wounds.”
While Chen’s attorney, Joshua Weiss, didn’t deny his client had killed Pace, he said this was a case of voluntary manslaughter, not premeditated murder.
On Nov. 22, 2022, the day Pace disappeared, she went to see Chen, whom she was dating, after her grandmother had died unexpectedly earlier in the day, according to her family.
The family had all gathered in the hospital to say goodbye, then Pace went to Chen’s apartment, and that was the last time anyone saw her, family and prosecutors said.
“I choose to believe that my granny was taken on that day so that we all got to hug Jasmine and have our last words to one another be I love you,” Pace’s cousin, Jacklyn White, read out in a victim impact statement broadcast by Court TV. “She lost her grandmother and then her life at the hands of someone she went to for comfort.”
Prosecutors said about three days after Pace disappeared, her family broke into Chen’s empty apartment desperate to find Pace and found her belongings there.
Pace’s blood was all over his apartment, Wamp said.
Chen sent messages to Pace’s phone to create an alibi for himself, according to Wamp, who added Pace’s SIM card was later found in Chen’s backpack.
Her body was found by the river Dec. 1, 2022, WRCB and WTVC reported.
“Jasmine was warm. She was kind, thoughtful, loving, generous, sassy,” White read in her victim impact statement. “She was beautiful on the inside as well as the outside. She was fiercely protective over her family. She would literally come running if you needed her.”
A jury found Chen guilty of murder Jan. 21, records show.
This story was originally published January 23, 2025 at 10:17 AM with the headline "Woman mourning grandma seeks boyfriend’s comfort, then he kills her, TN officials say."