KNOXVILLE, Tenn. — A Knox County judge has agreed to let the man convicted in the 2019 death of Gibbs High School 15-year-old Zach Munday to serve out the remainder of his sentence outside prison.
Knox County Criminal Court Judge Scott Green denied a request to dismiss 20-year-old Isaiah Brooks' sentence, but agreed to allow him to serve the remainder of his 10-year sentence out of prison — beginning in a halfway house before he can reintegrate into the community on his own under specific probation conditions.
Brooks pleaded guilty and was sentenced to serve 10 years in prison for reckless homicide in the May 2019 death of Munday.
The two friends, who attended Gibbs High School, were at a party when they got into a scuffle and Brooks body-slammed Munday to the ground. Munday died from his injuries.
In June 2021, Green indicated willingness to hear Brooks' case when he appeared in court to to request an early release, apologizing to Munday's family and saying he was "truly sorry about everything, I can’t say anything to bring him back, but I’m truly sorry.”
In the judge's decision, Green said the case stood in a unique posture due to the language from the plea agreement reached in Brooks' conviction.
Munday's family asked the court to sentence Brooks to at least two years within the Tennessee Department of Corrections under the agreement, which Brooks has done.
Since his conviction, the judge has said no one has advocated for Brooks to serve the entirety of his 10-year sentence in TDOC custody. Green said his ruling was based on what the Munday family had advocated for in court on November 2019.
Brooks will now serve the remaining eight years of his sentence through the State Department of Probation beginning on November 1.
His lawyers have been ordered to secure a halfway house for him. More probation conditions will be imposed on him after his release from prison, including abstaining from alcohol, as well as not contacting or being in close proximity to anyone in the Munday family.