NASHVILLE, Tenn. (WTVF) — Jail can be a dangerous place, especially for confidential informants.
And inmates refer to Jacques Odom — who's locked up on gun and drug charges — as a snitch.
He testified against two gang members in the Caitlyn Kaufman trial and Sheriff Daron Hall says that's now a big security risk for Odom.
Before the Kaufman trial, none of the inmates in the Davidson County jail knew Odom was a witness for the prosecution. But after the trial, that all changed.
"The threats are there; it's all real. It's a dangerous world," said Hall.
Especially dangerous for Odom. He was the key witness in the Caitlyn Kaufman murder trial in January.
"He is the one who puts Devaunte Hill with the gun in his hand. He is the only one who does that," said public defender Georgia Sims.
Odom testified for the prosecution at trial against fellow gang members Hill and James Cowan. The two were accused of shooting and killing Kaufman — a young nurse — as she drove to work on I-440 in Nashville.
Odom talked to Hill after the fact. He then tipped off police, collecting the $35,000 reward, and was called to testify.
"They was on the interstate. They said the car got on and almost like wrecked into them. I guess he said, I guess he thought it was somebody else so he shot up the car," Odom said on the stand at trial.
Odom's testimony helped lead to the conviction of Hill, the shooter. Cowan was acquitted.
Odom, who is still locked up in the jail on gun and drug charges, is now a target.
"Once it goes public that you are now giving evidence on two people, that is not looked on really highly in a jail culture," said Hall.
Police call Odom a confidential informant.
Sheriff Hall says inmates call him a snitch.
"He may one day outlive that title. That's not easy to do, though, in a setting," Hall said.
So, the sheriff is tasked with keeping Odom safe until his release.
That means Odom is kept in restrictive housing away from other inmates, alone for nearly 23 hours a day.
Odom will not have such protection once he's released from jail.
