Attorney: Fatal shot fired in self-defense

Sand Gap man facing possible life sentence

Brian Smith

The shotgun blast that killed Christopher Shane Adkins outside a Berea home last December was fired in self-defense, the attorney for his accused killer told a jury Monday.

David A. Daugherty, 42, of Sand Gap, is facing a possible life sentence for the Dec. 23, 2008, shooting of Adkins, 34, of Berea, outside a home in the 5500 block of Battlefield Memorial Highway.

Jury selection opened Monday morning with several members of the jury pool being called into individual questioning sessions regarding their exposure to media reports about the case.

After a 31-member pool was seated to begin group questioning, assistant commonwealth’s attorney Jennifer Hall Smith and defense attorney Meena Mohanty both asked prospective jurors about their feelings on self-defense and any past experiences with jury service.

Following a short break for attorneys to decide which jurors to put in the final pool, a seven-woman, six-man jury was impaneled at 11:30 a.m.

Commonwealth’s Attorney David Smith delivered the opening statement for the prosecution after the lunch recess, walking the jury through the timeline of what police believe took place.

Smith said that Daugherty’s own statements to police indicate he was not sure whether Adkins was armed with a gun. Adkins was brandishing an aluminum baseball bat shortly before the shooting took place, but no firearm was found in his possession after his shooting.

In her opening statement, Mohanty called Daugherty a “hard-working innocent man” and said her client believed Adkins was armed with a gun.

“Mr. Daugherty acted in self-defense,” Mohanty said.

Smith opened his case by calling Barbara “Kay” Horn, one of the two women who was with Adkins prior to the shooting.

Horn and Adkins had been driving around Berea and parts of Jackson County the night of Dec. 22 before their car broke down on Rice School Road in Jackson County, Horn testified.

The duo left the car and began walking, Horn testified, when one of her friends, Deidre Isaacs, drove by and picked her up, while Adkins continued walking.

Shortly after getting into Isaacs’ Ford Explorer, Daugherty drove up with another man, Adam Anglin, and had a short conversation with the women during which he asked about Adkins, Horn said.

After Daugherty drove away, the women picked Adkins up off the side of the road a short distance away, Horn testified. As the trio headed toward Berea, they realized Daugherty was following them, she said.

When the women and Adkins arrived at Horn’s mother’s home on Battlefield Highway, Daugherty pulled up behind them and got out of his truck to give Horn $40 in cash, she testified.

After Daugherty got back into his truck, Anglin exited the truck and began shouting at Horn and Adkins, Horn said. An altercation ensued during which Adkins shattered the passenger window of Daugherty’s truck with an aluminum baseball bat.

Daugherty then got out of his truck carrying a 12-gauge shotgun and fired a single shot that struck Adkins in the chest, neck and left shoulder, Horn said.

Smith called Isaacs to the stand after Horn’s testimony, and she gave a largely similar account of the incident, although Isaacs did testify that Horn had asked her to stop and talk to Daugherty initially, and said that the conversation between Daugherty and Horn at the Berea home took place before Horn got out of Isaacs’ vehicle.

After a recess, Smith called state medical examiner Dr. Kristen Rolf to testify about the autopsy performed on Adkins.

Rolf said the cause of death was internal bleeding caused by damage to Adkins’ heart, lungs and aorta, and that one of the shotgun pellets struck a vein in Adkins’ neck and was carried into his brain.

A brief bench conference was called after Mohanty asked Rolf about the results of a toxicology test, and Madison Circuit Judge William G. Clouse ordered the jury to disregard the question following the conference.

The final witness of the day was Detective Steve King of the Madison County Sheriff’s Office, the lead investigator in the case.

King testified that tests conducted on the shotgun police recovered from Daugherty’s truck the day of the shooting indicate that Adkins was shot from a distance of five to seven yards.

Daugherty had purchased the shotgun from Ricky Witt, a McKee resident who lives on Rice School Road not far from where Adkins’ car had broken down, King testified.

Witt said in a statement to King that Daugherty and Anglin had left his home with the shotgun and some shells after Witt told them a white car had left a “donut” in his driveway and was parked by the side of the road nearby, King testified.

Witt also had said Adkins had been at his home earlier in the evening for a few minutes, and Witt said he heard gunshots shortly after Adkins left, King said.

Prosecutors then played a video of part of a statement Daugherty gave to King at the Madison County Sheriff’s Office the day of the shooting.

The nearly 90-minute video was difficult to hear for jurors, who also were given written transcripts of the recording.

Clouse adjourned after the video, telling the jury a second recording would be screened Tuesday morning before King’s testimony concluded.

Brian Smith may be reached at bsmith@richmondregister.com or at 624-6694.