Outrage as Nashville singer avoids jail time for shooting homeless man who asked her to move her Porsche
Katie Quackenbush, 32, shot a 54-year-old man twice after the pair got in a tense argument
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An aspiring singer has stunningly avoided jail time after shooting an unarmed man experiencing homelessness twice during an argument about where her Porsche was parked in Nashville.
Katie Quackenbush, 32, who’s also known on stage as Katie Layne, was given 11 months and 29 days of probation on Thursday by a judge who also decided she would be able to serve her time in her home state of Texas, The Tennessean reported.
The 32-year-old mother of four made a tearful statement at her sentencing, where she both offered an apology to Gerald Melton, the man she shot in 2017, and explained how she was already facing punishment doled out by her community.
“Millions of people were making fun of me online,” she said at the hearing. “I was convicted by the community before trial,” she added, highlighting how she’s had difficulty securing jobs, applying for colleges and has even been on the receiving end of death threats from strangers.”
“For five years, I’ve been having to live with this ... social punishment. Even after all of this is over, Google is always going to be there. This will follow me for the rest of my life,” said Ms Quackenbush at Thursday’s hearing, noting that her life has been like “one foot in purgatory and the other in real life.”
"This has been the worst experience of my life, but I’m grateful that I had it, because it has changed me so dramatically to the core,” she added.
For Mr Melton, that day left far more than an emotional scar as he had to undergo at least three surgeries to repair his injuries.
On 26 August 2017, Mr Melton, who had been experiencing homeless at the time, had been trying to sleep on the sidewalk when he was “disturbed by exhaust fumes and loud music” coming from Ms Quackenbush’s Porsche SUV, according to a news release from Metro Nashville Police.
The pair became engaged in a heated fight, with Mr Melton later testifying at court that Ms Quackenbush asked him if he “wanted to die tonight”.
The 54-year-old said that as he began walking away from the woman, she hopped out of the Porsche and fired two shots before fleeing the scene.
Neither she nor the passenger with her reported the shooting to police, instead choosing to drive to Taco Bell. Police only responded to the shooting when Mr Melton placed a call himself,The Tennessean reported.
Ms Quackenbush was initially arrested on charges of attempted first-degree murder and aggravated assault with a deadly weapon. Those charges, however, were later dropped and replaced with the lesser charge of reckless endangerment, of which she was convicted in April after a two-day trial.
Prior to her November sentencing, Ms Quackenbush has been free as she posted her $25,000 bond shortly after the April hearing.
During Thursday’s 45-minute hearing, the 32-year-old expressed her deep regret for the incident and her lawyer argued that she’s shown initiative to rebuild herself in the years since the shooting, citing her enrolment in college, her aspirations to become a lawyer one day and creating a stable home for her four young children.
“This has inspired me to do better,” she told the judge, The Tennessean reported. “It inspired me to help people who have been in my shoes.”
Ms Quackenbush was found guilty by a jury of reckless endangerment in April, a Class A misdemeanour that can result in a maximum jail sentence of 11 months and 29 days, according to News Channel 5.