A Tennessee woman convicted of shooting a homeless man who asked her to maneuver her Porsche in Nashville’s iconic Music Row got off with none prison time and was sentenced as an alternative to lower than a 12 months of probation.
Katie Quackenbush, a 32-year-old mom-of-four, on Thursday was handed a sentence of 11 months and 29 days of probation on a reckless endangerment conviction stemming from the 2017 shooting of Gerald Melton, in keeping with The Tennessean.
Quackenbush, who lived in Nashville on the time of the incident but has since relocated to Texas, will probably be allowed to serve her sentence at her recent place of residence.
“This has been the worst experience of my life, but I’m grateful that I had it, since it has modified me so dramatically to the core,” Quackenbush said at her sentencing. “Sometimes hard lessons are one of the best lessons.”
On Aug.26, 2017, Melton, then age 54, was sleeping on a sidewalk in Music Row when he was woke up by loud music and exhaust fumes coming from Quackenbush’s Porsche SUV, in keeping with the Metro Nashville Police Department.
Melton and Quackenbush got right into a heated argument, during which the girl allegedly asked the person if he “desired to die tonight.”
Melton testified in court that he was walking away when Quackenbush exited her automotive and fired two shots, striking him within the abdomen.
Quackenbush then got back in her Porsche and drove with a passenger to a Taco Bell before heading home. Neither she nor her companion initially reported the shooting to the police.
Melton survived the shooting but required three surgeries, prosecutors said.
Quackenbush was arrested and indicted on charges of attempted first-degree murder and aggravated assault with a deadly weapon.
At her trial in April, a jury found Quackenbush guilty of the lesser charge of reckless endangerment — a misdemeanor — after she testified that she fired the gun in self-defense to scare Melton.
Quackenbush’s father, who’s an attorney in Texas, previously claimed that Melton threatened to kill his daughter if she didn’t lower the amount on her radio.
“My daughter told him, ‘I even have a gun. Get the (expletive) away from me,’” Jesse Quackenbush told the television station Fox 17. “She pulled off one round as a method of warning, not meaning to hit him or kill him. She thought she pointed far enough away from him to only scare him away, and he kept coming and she or he shot one other round.”
On the sentencing last Thursday, prosecutors questioned Quackenbush’s claim that she was afraid of Melton, saying that an eyewitness heard the girl say that she was not scared of the person and didn’t take his words seriously.
Assistant District Attorney Amy Hunter also brought up Quackenbush’s disturbing history of constructing threats against others. In a single instance, the girl admitted to threatening to hit a baby with a brick.
In one other case, Quackenbush poured water on a lady in a restaurant.
When given a likelihood to talk through the hearing, Quackenbush apologized to Melton for her actions — but additionally sought to present herself as a victim, claiming that she’s been ridiculed, has received death threats and struggled to search out work.
“Hundreds of thousands of individuals were making fun of me online,” she lamented. “I used to be convicted by the community before trial.”
A Tennessee woman convicted of shooting a homeless man who asked her to maneuver her Porsche in Nashville’s iconic Music Row got off with none prison time and was sentenced as an alternative to lower than a 12 months of probation.
Katie Quackenbush, a 32-year-old mom-of-four, on Thursday was handed a sentence of 11 months and 29 days of probation on a reckless endangerment conviction stemming from the 2017 shooting of Gerald Melton, in keeping with The Tennessean.
Quackenbush, who lived in Nashville on the time of the incident but has since relocated to Texas, will probably be allowed to serve her sentence at her recent place of residence.
“This has been the worst experience of my life, but I’m grateful that I had it, since it has modified me so dramatically to the core,” Quackenbush said at her sentencing. “Sometimes hard lessons are one of the best lessons.”
On Aug.26, 2017, Melton, then age 54, was sleeping on a sidewalk in Music Row when he was woke up by loud music and exhaust fumes coming from Quackenbush’s Porsche SUV, in keeping with the Metro Nashville Police Department.
Melton and Quackenbush got right into a heated argument, during which the girl allegedly asked the person if he “desired to die tonight.”
Melton testified in court that he was walking away when Quackenbush exited her automotive and fired two shots, striking him within the abdomen.
Quackenbush then got back in her Porsche and drove with a passenger to a Taco Bell before heading home. Neither she nor her companion initially reported the shooting to the police.
Melton survived the shooting but required three surgeries, prosecutors said.
Quackenbush was arrested and indicted on charges of attempted first-degree murder and aggravated assault with a deadly weapon.
At her trial in April, a jury found Quackenbush guilty of the lesser charge of reckless endangerment — a misdemeanor — after she testified that she fired the gun in self-defense to scare Melton.
Quackenbush’s father, who’s an attorney in Texas, previously claimed that Melton threatened to kill his daughter if she didn’t lower the amount on her radio.
“My daughter told him, ‘I even have a gun. Get the (expletive) away from me,’” Jesse Quackenbush told the television station Fox 17. “She pulled off one round as a method of warning, not meaning to hit him or kill him. She thought she pointed far enough away from him to only scare him away, and he kept coming and she or he shot one other round.”
On the sentencing last Thursday, prosecutors questioned Quackenbush’s claim that she was afraid of Melton, saying that an eyewitness heard the girl say that she was not scared of the person and didn’t take his words seriously.
Assistant District Attorney Amy Hunter also brought up Quackenbush’s disturbing history of constructing threats against others. In a single instance, the girl admitted to threatening to hit a baby with a brick.
In one other case, Quackenbush poured water on a lady in a restaurant.
When given a likelihood to talk through the hearing, Quackenbush apologized to Melton for her actions — but additionally sought to present herself as a victim, claiming that she’s been ridiculed, has received death threats and struggled to search out work.
“Hundreds of thousands of individuals were making fun of me online,” she lamented. “I used to be convicted by the community before trial.”
