Chris Padgett
Criminal Court Judge Don Poole on Tuesday raised the bond for a man charged with killing a Chattanooga cab driver after he was placed on house arrest by another judge and violated terms of his release.
Former Judge Rebecca Stern, who retired early in her new term, had lowered the bond for Chris Padgett from $610,000 to $100,000 and allowed him into the community corrections program.
Authorities said soon after he was placed in the program he left a job site at Koch's Food with a co-worker and went to several other locations before returning home. He was supposed to be picked up by his mother and taken to her house, where he was living.
Padgett claimed that he learned that a female friend had been robbed so he went to her residence to check on her.
Attorney Charles Dupree said, if Padgett remained in jail, he would lose out on his job and a GED program at Chattanooga State.
Judge Poole said Padgett had committed a "blatant violation" of the terms of his release.
He raised his bond back to $350,000. He said if Padgett is able to make that bond he could go back on house arrest but could only be transported by family members.
Prosecutor Williams said the state had been trying to go to trial, but he said the defense had continued to delay the case. He said at one point it had been set for Padgett to enter a plea, but his then-attorney got off the case that day.
The prosecutor said the mother of victim Nathan Deere lives out of state, but had come for every hearing and was in the courtroom on Tuesday.
Investigators with the Chattanooga Police Department’s Major Crimes Unit earlier said they used cell phone records and witness statements to arrest Padgett in the slaying. He was 18 at the time and now is 21.
Padgett is also charged with aggravated assault, aggravated robbery and unlawful possession of a weapon.
The Millennium Cab driver was shot in the head. He had been rushed to Erlanger Hospital, where he had been listed in critical condition before dying.
Chattanooga Police had responded in the late afternoon to 1643 Ocoee Street regarding a taxi parked in the street. When officers arrived, they found the victim slumped over the front driver's seat.
It was noted that the driver's cell phone was missing. Investigators were able to obtain his cell phone records in addition to GPS coordinates to the cell phone location. Using the coordinates, the cell phone was found less than a block away at the edge of some woods at 1700 Olive St.
Investigators found that the last call the driver had received was from 362-9913. That number was called and Padgett answered. He said he was at 1722 Hardy St., but when police went there his grandmother said he had not been at that address all day.
Police found that Padgett actually was at his mother's house at 3549 Garner Road.
During a search of that residence, officers found a gray pair of Nike "Air Jordans" as well as Padgett's cell phone. The cell phone was disassembled and the battery was missing. Police had been told that a young black male possibly wearing gray Nike "Air Jordans" was seen exiting the cab from its final location and walking north on Hickory Street.
The suspect was described as a skinny, brown-skinned black male who was about 5'9" tall. Padgett is 5'11" and weighs 160 pounds.
Police said Padgett gave conflicting accounts. He said a friend had used his cell phone to call a cab. He later said he did not know who his friend had called.
He said he found a black cell phone lying in the street near N. Hickory and Olive Street and he threw it toward the woods after seeing that it was cracked. Police said that is the same area where the phone was located.
Chris Padgett