BLOUNT COUNTY, Tenn. — A Blount County grand jury has decided to indict an Alcoa man accused of shooting and killing a Blount County Sheriff's Office deputy and wounding another, following a traffic stop in February.
Kenneth Wayne DeHart Jr. was indicted on 21 charges, including a premeditated first-degree murder charge and an attempted first-degree murder charge, on April 1.
He is due in Blount County Circuit Court on Friday at 9 a.m.
DeHart is also charged with attempted premeditated first-degree murder, two counts of being a felon in possession of a firearm and being a felon in possession of a handgun.
He's also charged with three counts of employing a firearm during the commission of a dangerous felony, three counts of possession of a firearm during the commission of a dangerous felony and two counts of aggravated assault against a first responder.
In addition to those charges, DeHart is facing reckless endangerment, tampering with evidence, evading arrest with risk of death or serious bodily injury, aggravated assault, resisting arrest and failure to maintain a lane.
Charges are in connection to fatal February shooting
The charges are connected to events police said occurred on Sevierville Road in Blount County on Feb. 8. Greg McCowan, a BCSO deputy, was shot and killed, and Shelby Eggers, another BSCO deputy, was wounded. DeHart is accused of shooting the pair following a traffic stop.
Eggers survived her wounds and testified at a preliminary hearing for the case on Feb. 20. Judge William Brewer sent the case for grand jury review following the two-hour hearing.
Authorities charged DeHart in warrants with the shooting. State prosecutors made the case for charging DeHart with premeditated first-degree murder in McCowan's death and attempted first-degree murder.
During that hearing, the state argued to Brewer that they'd shown probable cause for a grand jury to consider the case. Blount County District Attorney General Ryan Desmond said videos and evidence in the case made it clear in his eyes that the shooting was premeditated.
"I made a tally as I was watching this video, and I counted 37 times they either asked lawfully or told lawfully for the defendant to exit the vehicle," he said. "It was his decision to refuse those requests 37 times that led to us being here today, your honor, and you do not point a gun at two individuals and pull the trigger six times unless you intend to kill them ... You do not point a gun at a man lying helpless on the ground and pull the trigger unless you intend to kill him."
Public defenders representing DeHart had no objections to the case being bound, but they argued the shooting was not premeditated and that DeHart should face a second-degree murder charge.
DeHart was arrested at a home in East Knoxville in mid-February after a nearly week-long search across East Tennessee.
Status of others charged in connection to the case
Three other people have been charged in connection to the shooting death of McCowan and the shooting of Eggers.
Carrie Matthews is accused in Sevier County of helping him evade arrest. 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 March 15 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 McCowan's family sat in court for Matthews' 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 after posting a $350,000 bond.
DeHart's brother, Marcus DeHart, is facing an accessory after the fact charge, connected to the case.
The Blount County Clerk's Office said he bonded out of jail after being arraigned in February. His bond, at that time, was set at $1 million.
Maurice D. Warren, of Alcoa, is also facing charges connected to DeHart's case. He has another court date on April 5. He's accused of purchasing two cellphones for DeHart Jr. after the shooting.
Prosecutors said that DeHart Jr. used these phones while he evaded authorities for five days in February.
BSCO responds to mark on DeHart Jr.'s face following arrest
After conversations online about marks on Kenneth Wayne DeHart Jr.'s face after he was arrested, the Blount County Sheriff's Office responded with additional details about his arrest.
The mark led to questions about his treatment by officers during the arrest. Footage from the Knoxville Police Department and the Blount County Sheriff's Office obtained on March 22 shows new details about his arrest.
In one video, as he is turned over to KPD, he is walked back to a cruiser and there is no cut under his eye. In the video, he also complains about his handcuffs.
"You've got my circulation cut off," he said.
In another video, filmed just south of the University of Tennessee Medical Center, he transferred over to the Blount County Sheriff's Office. When he's put into the cruiser during that transfer, he has a scrape under his eye.
BCSO said it happened "when BCSO deputies attempted to remove hum from the backseat of KPD's cruiser during the transition from KPD's custody into BCSO's custody the day he was arrested."
BCSO said deputies tried to make sure the handcuffs were safely applied after he continued complaining about them. The sheriff's office said his weight caused him to fall down on the road, stomach-first.
WBIR received a few different stories about where the injuries came from. Previously, David Rausch, the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation director, and the U.S. Marshal for East Tennessee said they saw no evidence of police brutality during the arrest.
Rausch previously said the cut underneath DeHart Jr.'s eye may have been caused by a pitbull at the scene of his arrest.