Blount County, TN (WOKI) The man accused of killing a Blount County Deputy was back in court Tuesday. Kenneth Wayne DeHart Jr. is accused of killing Deputy Greg McCowan and injuring Deputy Shelby Eggers during a traffic stop on February 8 in Maryville. The judge ruling that the case can move forward on a first-degree murder charge against DeHart.

“Based upon the proof before the court, the court finds that there’s probable cause to believe that the offense of first-degree murder, attempted first-degree murder, and felon in possession of a weapon was committed by the defendant, Kenneth Wayne DeHart,” ruled Judge William Brewer after a more than two-hour hearing Tuesday paving the way for a grand jury hearing on the matter.

“It was committed here in Blount County, Accordingly, charges will be bound over to the grand jury for its determination of probable cause.”

During Tuesday’s hearing, Brewer along with defense counsel for DeHart and prosecutors for the state of Tennessee heard testimony from Deputy Shelby Eggers and Special Agent Maria Cutshaw with the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation. In addition, the court showed Eggers’ and Deputy Greg McCowan’s body camera footage from the traffic stop and shooting. The footage, released by BCSO officials Friday, shows McCowan’s and Egger’s points-of-view during the entire encounter.

Public defenders for DeHart sought to make the case that the shooting was not premeditated and that DeHart should instead face a second-degree murder charge; the court ruled in favor of the state moving the matter to the Blount County grand jury to consider the first-degree murder charge, along with two other charges, attempted first-degree murder and felon in possession of a weapon.

DeHart has yet to enter a plea to the charges.

Knoxville, TN (WOKI / WVLT) The lawsuit against the City of Knoxville in the deadly shooting of Austin-East Magnet High School student Anthony Thompson Jr. has been dismissed.

WVLT news reporting Monday afternoon the judge ruling in favor of the city in the lawsuit filed in April of 2022 by the mother of Anthony Thompson, Jr. which also listed the Knoxville Police Department and a number of others as culpable in her son’s death.

Thompson Jr. was an Austin-East Magnet High School student who was shot and killed at the school by Knoxville police officers in April of 2021 after he brought a gun into the school.

Thompson Jr.’s mother filed the lawsuit in 2022. In the suit, she and other plaintiffs claim that KPD ignored policies on how and when officers engage with students inside schools. The suit also claims that Knox County Schools and KPD did not give officers or school administrators the proper training needed to follow those procedures.

The suit also claims that there were several operational issues specific to Thompson Jr.’s killing that, if remedied beforehand, could have saved his life. The filing claims that several people violated a Memorandum of Agreement (MOA), which was entered into by the Knox County Schools, the Knoxville Police Department, the Knox County Sheriff’s Office and the Knox County Board of Education two years before the shooting.

Those listed in the suit as not following the MOA are School Security Officer Adam Willson, who was injured in the shooting, and Austin-East’s Principal Nathan Langlois. Several others face blame in the lawsuit as well.

Officer Adam Willson, Officer Brian Baldwin, Lt. Stanley Cash, and Officer Jonathon Clabough were the officers involved in the shooting. None of them faced criminal charges after District Attorney General Charme Allen found it was reasonable for Clabough to feel their lives were in danger and shoot Thompson Jr. During the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation’s investigation into the officer-involved shooting, it was found that Clabough also shot Willson, which sparked the shooting in the first place.

In the latest filing, the court dismissed the case with prejudice, granting judgment in favor of the City of Knoxville. The plaintiffs have appealed the decision, however.