Case against man charged with assault in fatal Knoxville bar shooting moves to grand jury

KNOXVILLE, Tenn. (WATE) — One of the two suspects connected to a deadly Knoxville bar shooting was in court on Monday, August 12. Steven Davis has been charged with aggravated assault and violation of parole. His case has been bound over to a grand jury.

The shooting happened on July 2 at the Pint House. Security guard Zachery Herrera and a Pint House customer John Goosie were shot and killed.

During Davis’ preliminary hearing, the state only called one witness, Knoxville Police Detective Tim Riddle, who responded to the scene the night of the shooting.

“When I got there the crime scene tape was already out, they had pretty much the majority of the parking lot in front of the business was roped off,” Riddle said.

Riddle described Davis as a regular at the Pint House, even handing out a flyer that helped law enforcement identify him. He also broke down security footage from that night outside of the bar.

“Kevin Matthews at the bottom, appears to be Zachery Herrera in the middle and there you see Mr. Davis, he’s in the black shirt appears to me, he’s grabbing or trying to grab Zachery Herrera,” Riddle said.

The defense focused on the lack of relationship between Davis and the shooter, Kevin Matthews, who was found dead from a self-inflicted gunshot wound. Defense Attorney Greg Isaacs said the two had only met the night of the shooting.

Riddle agreed, saying there was no proof of communication between the two before July 2, however, they were out together earlier that night with other people.

“They were out in Powell at the MTM Strip Club,” Riddle said. “You see these individuals, Mr. Davis, Mr. Matthews, Ms. Kailey Mooch, I think is the last name, that’s the alleged girlfriend of Matthews and Andrew Buchannon coming out of the MTM Strip Club 10 to 15 minutes prior to them going to the Pint House.”

Isaacs argued that the evidence didn’t meet the standards of aggravated assault.

“At most, the state has shown a Class B offensive touching or worst-case scenario a simple assault, but there are none of the essential elements,” Isaacs said.

Ultimately, the Judge ruled there was enough evidence to bound the case over to the grand jury.

The second suspect in the case, Kevin Matthews was found a little over a week after the shooting in a Jacksonville, Florida hotel room . He died from a self-inflicted gunshot wound.

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