Bond revoked for Lenoir City man

Bond revoked for Lenoir City man charged with aggravated vehicular homicide

A Blount County judge Monday revoked the bond of a Lenoir City man who admitted using marijuana while on pretrial release in a case in which he is accused of a killing a woman in a vehicle crash.

Chad Eric Sheffer, 41, allegedly drank before a March 23 crash on Topside Road that resulted in the death of 28-year-old Kristy M. Strickland of Maryville.

Based on Sheffer’s four previous DUI convictions over the past 20 years, Blount County General Sessions Court Judge William R. Brewer Jr. also changed the charge pending against him from vehicular homicide to aggravated vehicular homicide.

That raises the charge from a Class B to a Class A felony. If convicted, Sheffer could face 15 to 25 years in prison and would have to serve at least 60 percent of the time.

He was convicted of driving under the influence of an intoxicant in Georgia in 1999, 2002 and 2006, and in Monroe County in 2011, according to court documents.

Admitted drug use

Sheffer had been out of jail on $1,000 bond from April 9 until June 25.

Under the terms of his release, he had been wearing a GPS and transdermal alcohol monitoring devices, meeting weekly with a court officer and prohibited from drinking alcohol or using controlled or illicit substances.

He was confined to his residence except for meetings with his attorney, doctor or a court officer.

On June 25, when a probation and pretrial release officer asked Sheffer whether he had used drugs or alcohol, the man initially paused, that officer, Justin Studer, told the court Monday. “He advised me that he had smoked a joint,” Studer said.

Under questioning from Sheffer’s attorney, Assistant Public Defender Shawn Graham, Studer said Sheffer had been complying with the pretrial release order before that.

In asking the judge to revoke or increase the bond, Blount County Assistant District Attorney General J. Scott Stuart said Sheffer could be “a danger to the community and those sharing the roadway.”

Graham argued that if Brewer increased the bond to $20,000, that would have a “financial bite.” Stuart noted Sheffer’s bond initially was set at $50,000 but lowered because of his medical issues related to the vehicle crash.

Stuart cited Sheffer’s “pattern of conduct” and said, “the defendant showed he couldn’t make it three months” complying with the terms of the pretrial release to not drink or use drugs.

The Tennessee Highway Patrol reported that Sheffer had been drinking before his pickup truck drifted into the oncoming lane on Topside Road on March 23 and struck Strickland head-on.

A few of the people in the courtroom Monday wore T-shirts with her picture and the words “We Love & Miss You Forever Kristy.”