Two of seven bounty hunters charged with murder after descending on the wrong car and killing an innocent man in Tennessee have taken plea deals in the case to avoid trial.
The charges stem from a chaotic scene in Clarksville in April 2017, when police said the bounty hunters shot at four people in a sedan outside a Walmart and chased them for seven miles.
During the shooting, 24-year-old Jalen Johnson was killed. He was a father-of-three from Clarksville.
Jonathan Schnepp Jr, 33, and 40-year-old Kenneth Chiasson, both took plea deals in the case of mistaken identity within the last month.
Jonathan Schnepp Jr, 33, and Kenneth Chiasson, 40, took plea deals in connection to the 2017 murder of Jalen Johnson, 24. They were among five other bounty hunters charged with murder: William Byles, Antwon Keesee, Roger West, Prentice Williams and Joshua Young
Johnson (left, and right, with his children) was shot and killed on April 23 when the seven bounty hunters gave chase and opened fire on a Nissan he was in with three other men
Schnepp entered an open plea to aggravated assault last month but won’t be sentenced until after his co-defendants’ trials, according to The Leaf Chronicle.
Records also show that 40-year-old Kenneth Chiasson entered a ‘memorandum of retirement’ agreement in the case, which means the charges against him will be retired after truthful testimony during the trial set to begin in July.
Schnepp and Chiasson were indicted on first-degree murder charges in May 2017 in connection with the shooting death of Johnson.
The other bounty hunters who were also charged with murder include, William L. Byles, 33, Antwon D. Keesee, 35; Roger D. West, 33, Prentice L. Williams, 36; and Joshua Young, 29.
All seven were charged with second-degree attempted murder, but as part of the plea deals, the state dropped that charge along with 12 others against Schnepp and Chiasson.
Police described the scene of the shooting as chaotic after the bounty hunters shot at four people in a Nissan and then chased them down.
The incident happened after the bounty hunters spoted the men at the Walmart Neighborhood Market on Whitfield Boulevard (above). None of the men with Johnson were wanted on outstanding charges
His family called him an innocent man who died in an act of terrorizing violence. Johnson’s (above with his children) uncle, Toni Jenkins, said at the time that his nephew and the other victims had no idea why the men suddenly blocked their car in the Walmart parking lot
Johnson’s family called him an innocent man who died in an act of terrorizing violence.
His uncle, Toni Jenkins, said at the time that his nephew and the three male victims in the car with him had no idea why the men suddenly blocked their car in the Wal-Mart parking lot.
Fearing an attack by gang members, they tried to flee.
The bounty hunters, Jenkins said, started shooting in the parking lot and continued to fire on them during the chase, even ramming the Nissan along the way.
Not one of the men in the Nissan was wanted on outstanding charges.
In fact, the Clarksville bounty hunters were looking for someone else, and there is no indication that any of the victims fired at the defendants or were even armed, police spokesman Jim Knoll said at the time.
Bail bondsmen are empowered to hire or act as bounty hunters to bring in people who violate the terms of jail bonds, but they can’t use deadly force unless it’s self-defense.
The other five bounty hunters face charges of especially aggravated kidnapping, attempted especially aggravated kidnapping, four counts of aggravated assault, employing a firearm in commission of a dangerous felony and felony reckless endangerment, police said.
Some of the men charged were bonding agents and others were strictly bounty hunters.
Clarksville Police have not named the other men in the car.