By Karen Hall

Editor

The man alleged to be responsible for the fatal stabbing of James Hall, 26, was indicted by the grand jury when they met last month.

Jonathan Taylor Young, 22, of Mt. Lebanon Road, was charged with second-degree murder. He will be represented by the Public Defender's Office.

The report of the incident by Lewisburg Police Cpl. John Christmas states that he and officers Ben Fender and Mike Davis responded to a "fight between multiple people" at the Northgate Apartments on Cornersville Road about 2 p.m. Sunday, July 28.

When the officers arrived, they found Hall lying on his back in the breezeway of Building K, "bleeding from his torso." A woman was applying compression to the wounds, and Hall was able to tell Christmas that (Jonathan) Taylor Young was the one who cut him.

By interviewing bystanders at the apartments, Christmas was able to piece together the connection between the two men.

Young is the father of a child whose mother was Hall's girlfriend.

According to Christmas' report, the woman "asked Taylor not to come to her apartment because she feared James (Hall) and Taylor (Young) would get into a confrontation."

Unfortunately, Taylor and his brother did come to the apartment, and started fighting with Hall outside the building.

"After the fight James stood up and was bleeding from his torso area," the young woman told Christmas. He "took a few steps toward the apartment and collapsed."

When Christmas went to the ambulance to check on Hall, he found Emergency Medical Services personnel performing CPR, and they told him Hall had become unresponsive. Hall was taken to Marshall Medical Center but "succumbed to his injuries ... a short while later," wrote Lewisburg Detective Cpl. Scott Braden in a press release.

"As a result of the investigation ... Young was taken into custody and charged," Braden continued. Young has been in Marshall County Jail ever since, unable to make a $750,000 bond.

Exactly a month later, at a home on Saint Anne Street, Michael Bass was almost stabbed to death. He was transported by helicopter ambulance to Vanderbilt, and survived. Now his alleged assailant, Scotty J. Blackwell, 33, of Bivins Road, has been charged with attempted criminal homicide.

According to the warrant written by Braden, Blackwell "did attempt to unlawfully kill Michael Bass by cutting and stabbing ... these injuries were life threatening."

Also indicted were

* Ambrie S. Sparks, 20, of Chapel Hill, who is charged with aggravated child abuse and neglect. According to the warrant written by Marshall County Sheriff's Department Detective Tony Nichols, Sparks knowingly neglected her six-week-old child and the child "did suffer serious bodily injury due to her neglect." She will be represented by the Public Defender's Office.

* The man allegedly responsible for the injuries to the child, Jonathan D. Griggs, 24, of Chapel Hill, was charged with aggravated child abuse. According to Nichols' warrant, "On or about April 21, 2013, Jonathan did knowingly ... shake and slap a six-week-old baby causing her serious bodily injury." Griggs will be represented by Shelbyville attorney Brenda Bramlett.

* Rebecca J. Batson, 40, of Old Lake Road, was charged with 14 counts of forgery. According to warrants written by Marshall County Sheriff's Department Detective Jimmy Oliver, between June 24 and Aug. 16, she cashed checks totaling $4,105 written on two different peoples' accounts. Batson was arrested on Oct. 4 and has been jailed since then, unable to make a $42,000 bond. She will be represented by the Public Defender's Office.

* Thomas E. Altavilla, 36, was also charged with forgery, as well as with theft and attempted theft. In 2008, Altavilla, who then lived in Shelbyville, allegedly gave a Social Security number that was not his own to get a loan from World Finance in Lewisburg, and repeated the procedure six weeks later with another SSN to get a loan from Security Finance. According to documents in his case file, Altavilla was arrested, appeared in General Sessions Court, made a $12,000 bond, and disappeared from Marshall County. By June 2009 he was incarcerated in Ohio, but Marshall County placed a hold on him, and when Altavilla finished the Ohio sentence he was transported here, arriving on Oct. 4.

* Phillip L. Fuller, 54, of Highway 64, was charged with driving on a revoked license (third offence) and driving after being declared a Habitual Motor Vehicle Offender. He will be represented by attorney, and former judge, Steve Bowden.

* Shane E. Jones, 39, of Harwell Avenue, was given until Nov. 20 to hire an attorney. Jones is charged with driving under the influence, driving on a revoked license, speeding, and failure to provide proof of financial responsibility. Lewisburg Police Officer Clint Newbill stopped Jones on North Ellington Parkway in front of the Lewisburg Gas Department about 11 p.m. June 23 because Jones was allegedly doing 56 mph in a 45 mph zone. This is allegedly Jones' fifth DUI.

Members of the public are reminded that an indictment constitutes only charges and every person is presumed innocent until their guilt has been proven beyond a reasonable doubt.