One accused of shooting; two with kidnapping
Myers is facing charges stemming from not one, but two separate crimes — one for the murder of Pinsley, and the other for the alleged aggravated assault and aggravated kidnapping of an Anderson County woman.
Anderson County Sheriff’s Office investigators and Clinton Police Department officers determined early in the investigation of Pinsly’s death that they had two cases to investigate in which Myers was the defendant, the media release said.
On Tuesday, May 16, a special Grand Jury returned indictments and issued a capias for the arrest of Myers on charges for the two crimes, and named Tommy Dearing, 56, of Briceville, as a co-defendant in the assault and kidnapping.
“Both men have been taken into custody and are being held in the Anderson County Detention Facility,” the media release stated.
Myers has been charged with second-degree murder in connection with the death of Pinsly.
Shortly after the fatal shooting occurred, rumors circulated that the shooting was the result of a road rage incident, but police have since confirmed that Myers and Pinsley knew each other.
During a news conference at Clinton Police headquarters that took place later in the day on the day of the shooting, Clinton Chief of Police Rick Scarbrough stated to the media that police learned while questioning the suspect, that Pinsly was the husband of Myers’ ex-wife.
The media release from Clark revealed law enforcement authorities have uncovered evidence suggesting Pinsly and Myers were “involved in a disagreement over child visitation.”
According to the media release, Pinsly approached Myers’ vehicle in the Wal-Mart store parking lot, and Myers pulled out a gun and shot him. Pinsly died instantly from the gunshot wound.
Throughout the investigation into Pinsly’s death, Clinton Police officers “carefully but quickly” interviewed a large number of witnesses and collected digital evidence, photos, cell phone data, and video surveillance recordings.
“It was important that we had all the T’s crossed and I’s dotted in such a significant case. I am proud of the men and the women in our department who have worked so hard in a short period of time to bring this case to the point of a Grand Jury indictment and an arrest,” commented Scarbrough.
The abduction and assault case in which Myers is also connected with stems from February 8, 2017, the media release reports.
On February 8, Brandy Moneymaker was found on New River Highway, “suffering from cuts, broken bones, and a brain injury, and was transported to the University of Tennessee Medical Center where doctors performed emergency surgery,” the media release states.
Moneymaker’s age and residence were not listed in the media report.
Moneymaker alleged Myers assaulted her at a residence on Airbase Road in Briceville where he and Tommy Dearing resided.
She further alleged that “after the beating” Myers gave her, he then loaded her in a truck, transported her — at gunpoint — to a remote mountain mining area where he forced her out of the truck, shot at her, and left her “for dead on the mountain side,” the media release continues.
Anderson County Sheriff’s Office investigated the abduction and injuries to Moneymaker. Over the course of the investigation, Sheriff’s deputies uncovered “a number of pieces of evidence that required crime lab analysis,” and conducted several witness interviews.
Included in the media release is a statement from Anderson County Sheriff Paul White explaining how deputies spent hundreds of hours investigating what White has called “a challenging but important case.”
“We are very happy to have the defendant indicted and arrested,” White said.
In the abduction and assault of Moneymaker, Myers has been indicted on charges of attempted first degree murder, especially aggravated kidnapping by serious bodily injury, especially aggravated kidnapping by deadly weapon, aggravated assault by deadly weapon, and aggravated assault by serious bodily injury.
A booking search of Myers through the Anderson County Sheriff’s Department’s jail intake report online shows Myers was charged in 2003 with vandalism.
Dearing, his co-defendant in the kidnapping and assault case, has been indicted on charges of facilitation of the felony of attempted first-degree murder and accessory after the fact. Dearing was arrested Thursday morning, May 18, by the Anderson County Sheriff’s Office and is being held on a bond of $75,000.
Officers with the Clinton Police Department arrested Myers on Wednesday night, May 17. He is being held on a $600,000 bond.
An arraignment hearing in the Anderson County Criminal Court is scheduled for Myers and Dearing on May 26 at 9 a.m.
In the media release, Clark commented that he is “grateful for the hard, smart, and cooperative work of the Anderson County Sheriff’s Office and the Clinton Police.”