Shannon Ketchersid Found Not Guilty Of Assaulting Friend Marcus Keith

  • Sunday, April 2, 2017

A Criminal Court jury found Shannon Frank Ketchersid not guilty of assaulting his longtime friend, Marcus Keith, on April 3, 2015.

Ketchersid, in the trial for reckless aggravated assault in the courtroom of Judge Barry Steelman, said the incident left him "unemployable." He said he has not worked since that night that dramatically changed both their lives.

Keith, who was gravely wounded after being shot in the chest, but who later recovered, told of another man, Zack Hamlin, arriving and winding up threatening him. He said after Ketchersid fought the visitor in his yard that he came back in and they thought that Hamlin had left.

However, he then began banging on the door. Keith said Ketchersid then grabbed for a gun that was on a kitchen island.

He said Ketchersid then came toward him. Keith said, "I felt like I was going to get shot."

He said he grabbed the muzzle "to try to point it in a safe direction." Instead, he was shot in the abdomen and slumped to the kitchen floor.

Keith said he can remember the fall to the floor and Ketchersid stepping over him. The next thing he remembers is waking up in the hospital.

He said his hand was badly damaged by contact with the gun, and he said the gunshot left one leg paralyzed for several months. He said he still has trouble with that leg and foot.

Keith said 16 inches of his intestines had to be removed, causing him to have to go to the bathroom 6-12 times a day.

Ketchersid told of the unwelcome visitor showing up and the fight that broke out. He said of Hamlin, "I've never seen anybody act like that."

He said it so upset Keith "that he was curled up in a ball on the couch."

The defendant said after it appeared that Hamlin had left that he began apologizing to Keith. Then he said came the knocking on the door.

He said he went for the gun because "I didn't feel like he was going to come in and shake my hand and be my friend."

The gun, he said, "was to protect me and everybody in my house."

Breaking News
Latest Hamilton County Arrest Report
  • 3/28/2024

Here is the latest Hamilton County arrest report: ADERHOLT, FELICIA DAWN 1110 ST CLAIR ST DUNLAP, 37327 Age at Arrest: 37 years old Arresting Agency: HC Sheriff Booked for Previous ... more

Signal Mountain Must Determine How To Use Remainder Of ARPA Funds
  • 3/27/2024

The town of Signal Mountain has $358,637 remaining from the American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) funds it received and there must be a plan in place by the end of the year for how the money will be ... more

2 Men Charged In Dalton For January Drive-By Shooting
  • 3/27/2024

The Dalton Police Department has charged two men for their roles in a Jan. 28th drive-by shooting near downtown Dalton. Joshua Lee Edwards, 36, of Dalton was charged with two counts of aggravated ... more