SEVIER COUNTY, Tenn — The girlfriend of Kenneth Wayne DeHart Jr., the man accused of shooting and killing Blount County Deputy Greg McCowan during a traffic stop in February, appeared in court Friday to waive her preliminary hearing.
Carrie Matthews is accused in Sevier County of helping Kenneth Wayne DeHart Jr. evade arrest after the Blount County shooting on the night of Feb. 8. Another officer, Deputy Shelby Eggers, was wounded that night. DeHart led authorities on a five-day manhunt across East Tennessee before he was captured at a home in East Knoxville on Feb. 13.
Officers said Matthews was DeHart's girlfriend. According to her arrest warrant, she is charged with being an accessory after the fact for tipping DeHart off over the phone about officers who came to her home in Sevier County the night of the shooting. The warrant said she answered a call from "Janeisha" while officers were at her home, but "Janeisha" was actually DeHart. The warrant said Matthews told DeHart "they're here" and hung up.
Matthews appeared in Sevier County Court on Friday and opted to waive her preliminary hearing. This means her case will be sent to a Sevier County grand jury for review. She is scheduled to be arraigned on May 13.
Some of Deputy Greg McCowan's family sat in court Friday for the hearing.
"Nobody feels worse about this than she does," said Richard Talley, the attorney representing Matthews.
After the hearing was over, Talley turned to McCowan's family and expressed his condolences. He promised to talk with them in some time.
Matthews was released from jail last month after posting a $350,000 bond.
On Thursday, WBIR 10News obtained more than an hour of new footage of DeHart's jail booking and the moments after his arrest.