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Victim's Rights ceremony
Fourth Judicial District Attorney General Jimmy Dunn on Wednesday hosted a ceremony to remember the victims of violent crime in the district. The event on the lawn of the Cocke County Courthouse featured the unveiling of a granite bench adjacent to the Tree of Remembrance planted several years ago. Prosecutor Dunn pointed to the biblical admonition to pile rocks at the grave of the deceased as a remembrance “lest we forget.” The victims of violent death who were remembered included Megan Maxwell, Courtney Thompson, Terrance Stewart, Mikey Grimes, Calenda Knight, Shawnalee Swaw, Joby Giles and Troy Dale Valentine. Shandan Ward, a Sevier County deputy related her experience when she arrived at a head-on crash on Chapman Highway involving a church bus which burned, last year. "I have trouble sleeping and have flashbacks about the incident," Ward said between sobs. "I always think of what if I had pulled harder ? What if I had cut the seat belt sooner? What if I could have held my breath a little longer as the van filled with smoke?" The officer said she was told someone wouldn't be at the ceremony because she cannot look them in the face. "She is exactly right because every time I look at her, I see her daughter. I feel like I should have done more that day. I had to be pulled away by my supervisor before the van was engulfed in flames. I balled my eyes out, hugging my supervisor.... thinking I should have done more." Two people burned to death and a number of others were seriously injured in that crash. Prosecutor Dunn said the driver of the car involved was a drug dealer and was delivering drugs when he lost control and crashed into the van. Arlene Valentine, the mother of Troy Dale Valentine said her son was murdered in 1986 Tatoo Eddie Harris was sentenced to death for the murder and he wrote Mrs. Valentine asking that she write a letter supporting his electrocution. “I prayed and God showed me not to,” the mother said.” I went to Al Schmutzer (retired District Attorney General) and had him took off death row because that is what God wanted. Now he’s sitting in a four by ten foot cell and will be there for life. God took care of it.” Cocke County Mayor Vaughn Moore presented a proclamation to Dunn in recognition of National Crime Victim’s Rights Week, entitled “Thirty Years; Restoring the Balance of Justice.”
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Return to Today's News Stories - Front PageThursday, April 29, 2021
US 411 Project News
Mill Creek Wildfire Update
More Bad News For Smokies' Fans
Wednesday, April 28, 2021
Mill Creek Wildfire doubles in size
Goodbye Smokies?
Keep Cocke County Beautiful
Cocke Co. High School Remote Learning today!
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