Video Shows William Matthew Harvey Stab Shawn Russell In Heart At Rumors Bar

Video evidence shows William Matthew Harvey, 25, stab Shawn Russell in the heart before he died, said witnesses in court on Thursday. The recordings were taken from Rumors bar at about 1:15 a.m. on April 5.

The manslaughter case was bound to the Grand Jury following the hearing.

At the time of the stabbing, the video shows Mr. Russell in a physical altercation with Jonathon Paul “JP” Harvey, who witnesses said was at the bar with the defendant.

Danielle Harvey, the only employee in Rumors Bar at the time of the incident, said she had known the victim for nine to 12 years. She described to the court the moment right after the stabbing as the video played.

“I just know that they got (Jonathon Harvey and Mr. Russell) apart, and (Mr. Russell) come to me and that’s when he start screaming at me, ‘That MFer just stabbed me,’” she said. “I was panicking. I got bar towels, and by the time I got around the bar he said, ‘Danielle, I can’t breathe.’”

After this, Ms. Harvey said Mr. Russell collapsed to the floor.

Though police initially believed Jonathon Harvey to be the suspect who had stabbed Mr. Russell, they learned within a couple hours of the slaying that he was proven innocent.

Norissha Hall, girlfriend of Mr. Russell, gave an emotional testimony about the night of the incident. She said both she and her boyfriend had never seen William Harvey or Jonathan Harvey before. She told Judge Clarence Shattuck that there was a verbal altercation between Mr. Russell and Jonathon Harvey.

Ms. Harvey said the altercation began when Jonathan Harvey started “talking about the shamrock on Shawn’s shirt.” She said Jonathan Harvey was also “talking about Aryan Nation brotherhood.” In the video, Jonathan Harvey takes off his shirt and Ms. Harvey attempts to calm him down.

“I said, ‘We don’t allow that in here. Put your clothes on. We don’t do this. I’m not gonna have that in here,’” she told the court.

After this, the bartender said she proceeded to show Jonathon Harvey that she had “three tattoos of shamrocks” on her foot, which appeared to calm him down.

“I still don’t understand why the shamrock mattered,” she said.

During this time, Ms. Harvey said the defendant William Harvey never engaged in aggressive behavior, talked to Mr. Russell, or caused any trouble. She said he was amicable, even speaking with Ms. Hall and exchanging a laugh.

“Everything was perfectly fine,” said Ms. Harvey.

In the video after the verbal altercation, Mr. Russell and Ms. Hall can be seen standing together at the bar. Another angle, however, shows Jonathan Harvey yelling something. Neither Ms. Harvey nor Ms. Hall recalled what Jonathan Harvey was yelling, however, Ms. Harvey remembered Mr. Russell stating, “How much more do I have to take of this MFer?”

“I think Jonathon’s trying to fight with (Mr. Russell), and Shawn wasn’t saying anything back to him,” said Ms. Hall through tears. “I remember Shawn saying to Jonathon that he could say what he wants about him, but he’s not gonna talk about his girl like that.”

The video then shows Mr. Russell breaking apart his pool stick while Jonathon Harvey stands by the jukebox.

“Mr. Russell struck JP with the pool cue, dropped it, or took him to the ground, and began beating JP with his fist,” said Ms. Harvey.

Both Ms. Hall and Ms. Harvey said they had never seen Mr. Russell act violently.

Investigator Matthew Puglise of the Chattanooga Police Department, who responded to the crime scene and reviewed the video, pointed out Mr. Russell stepping away from Jonathon Harvey for a second and then returning. After this, William Harvey can be seen to the left of the altercation.

There is a single, quick jab from William Harvey in the video, which Investigator Puglise identified as the moment the defendant stabbed the victim “once in the heart.” By the time Mr. Russell turns around, there is already a pool of blood on his shirt.

William Harvey’s defense attorney Ben McGowan pointed out to the judge that in this moment Mr. Russell “appears to aggressively go after Mr. Harvey.”

Judge Shattuck replied, “Sure, and so would you if you had been stabbed.”

Ms. Harvey said she did not see the stabbing. She said she was yelling at Mr. Russell to stop and come pay his tab.

“I slam my hand down, and I’m like, ‘I thought this was settled,’” she said. “And that’s when he looked down and seen the blood and I was like, ‘Oh my God.’”

As an angle of the video with a view of the bar showed Ms. Harvey scrambling to reach the phone, call 911, and get towels, she described the scene in a rush.

“That’s when I began to panic. … (Mr. Russell’s) screaming. He’s kinda like taking large, deep breaths. … I proceed to do CPR, and I call 911, and they’re asking me questions. … The police officers come, and they put one of those compress pads on the wound,” she said.

She told the court she took turns with the officer doing compressions, but by the time the EMTs arrived, Mr. Russell had taken his last breath.

“When they picked him up to put him on the gurney, his head just fell back, and I knew that he was dead,” she told the court.

Both Ms. Harvey and Investigator Puglise pointed out the moment in the video where the defendant and Jonathon Harvey can be seen leaving the parking lot outside in an SUV.

Ms. Harvey also said that though three people with the surname Harvey are involved in this case, she did not believe anyone was related.

Attorney McGowan said the charge of voluntary manslaughter should be dismissed entirely.

“Part of the state’s proof here has to be that the defendant knowingly or intentionally caused the death of the individual,” he said.

He pointed out that in six years as a homicide detective, Investigator Puglise has only worked four stabbing cases, leading attorney McGowan to believe that single stab wounds rarely result in the death of the victim.

Judge Shattuck seemed surprised, noting it was common sense that “sticking a knife in a person” might result in death.

However, attorney McGowan argued the incident was “a very clear case of defense of another.” He said the stab might have been the reason Mr. Russell stopped beating Jonathon Harvey.

Investigator Puglise agreed that the victim’s actions against Jonathon Harvey “would be an aggravated assault,” but that he didn’t know what stopped the beating. He said the stabbing “obviously killed (Mr. Russell), and you can’t fight after that.”

Attorney McGowan said “a beating that’s taking place that starts with an aggravated assault” justifies William Harvey’s defense of Jonathon Harvey.

“Mr. (Jonathon) Harvey’s behavior was loathsome, but at the end of the day he’s being beaten to a pulp on the ground,” he said.

Judge Shattuck said he had no proof that Jonathon Harvey was being “beaten to a pulp.”

“This man got up and walked out,” he said. “Truth, he was getting beat. He was losing the fight.”

Attorney McGowan counted “at least seven blows” in a row from Mr. Russell before the victim was stabbed.

“What the court has to do is look at the circumstances as they were faced by Matt Harvey at that time,” he said.

He argued that “with no other patron in the bar able to effectively intervene and stop this fight” the defendant used the “utility knife that was in his pocket.” He said defense of another was “not an unlawful killing.”

Prosecutor Kristen Spires said the defendant “stabbed an individual who didn’t have a weapon,” since the pool cue was already out of Mr. Russell’s hands.

“(William Harvey) stabs someone in the chest. He didn’t stab him somewhere else just to stop this fight,” she said. “He could have stabbed him anywhere else. … He doesn’t try to stop the fight in any other way.”

Attorney McGowan said it was a “rapidly escalating situation in which instant decisions (were) being made.” He said it was only when Mr. Russell came back to Jonathon Harvey “to reassert that assault” that William Harvey made a move.

“It would be nice to say he should have found the perfect spot to hit him, he should have hit him in the side,” he said. “(William Harvey) made a split second decision.”

Judge Shattuck said the question was whether or not it was reasonable for the defendant to stab the victim in the way he did, whether “the way you stop a fight is to step up behind a man’s back and stab him.”