Kingston courthouse shooting

The Kingston courthouse shooting was a fatal shooting that took place on August 9, 2005, at the Roane County Courthouse in Kingston, Tennessee, United States. It resulted in the death of a Tennessee Department of Correction transport officer, and the wounding of another officer. The perpetrator, Jennifer Forsyth Hyatte (born February 11, 1974), began shooting immediately after her husband, George, pleaded guilty to a robbery charge in the courthouse.

The Roane County Courthouse in Kingston, Tennessee, site of the shooting

Jennifer Hyatte is currently serving a life sentence without the possibility of parole. George Hyatte pleaded guilty to first-degree murder in the shooting in 2009 and was sentenced to life in prison as part of a plea bargain to avoid the death penalty.[1]

The shooting

At approximately 10:00 a.m., during a court hearing, Tennessee Department of Correction transport officer Wayne "Cotton" Morgan was fatally shot three times by Jennifer Forsyth Hyatte, whose husband, George Hyatte, pleaded guilty to a charge of robbery in the courtroom, and screamed "Shoot him! [the officer]" right before she opened fire. The officer was airlifted to the University of Tennessee Medical Center in Knoxville, where he was pronounced dead.

Witnesses claimed that Jennifer Hyatte stormed out of the courthouse, where she got into a Ford Explorer, which was later found abandoned. Police later announced that they believed she was driving a gold Chevrolet Venture with the license plate number GFU-155. They also said that George Hyatte got into the Ford Explorer that his wife was driving.

On August 10, the Chevrolet Venture used was found in the parking lot of an Econo Lodge in Erlanger, Kentucky, but neither Hyatte was found. The same night the Hyattes were charged with first-degree murder.

Capture

On August 10, 2005, around 10:00 p.m., the Hyattes were captured at an America's Best Value Inn located in Columbus, Ohio. The couple was captured after a cab driver named Mike Wagers drove them from Erlanger, Kentucky, to a Best Value Inn.

Court proceedings

On September 17, 2007, Jennifer Hyatte pleaded guilty to first-degree murder and was sentenced to life imprisonment without the possibility of parole. According to the Tennessee Department of Corrections website, her TOMIS (Tennessee Offender Management Information System) number is 00394869, her imprisonment began on 10 August 2005 and she is incarcerated at the Tennessee Prison for Women in Nashville.

As a condition of the plea bargain which allowed her to avoid the death penalty, she agreed to testify against George Hyatte.[2] However her testimony was not required because subsequently, George Hyatte did not contest the charges made against him. On March 9, 2009, he pleaded guilty to all charges, including the first-degree murder of Officer Wayne "Cotton" Morgan. As a result, George Hyatte was sentenced to life imprisonment without the possibility of parole.[3]

References
  1. Yahoo! Search - Web Search
  2. Jennifer Hyatte pleads guilty to officer's murder
  3. George Hyatte pleads guilty to killing prison guard during escape ยป Knoxville News Sentinel
This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.