Trial begins for Katie Quackenbush, accused of shooting homeless Nashville man in 2017
An aspiring country singer is on trial this week exactly five years after the shooting of a homeless man on Music Row in Nashville.
Katie Layne Quackenbush is accused of shooting Gerald Melton, who was 54 when he was shot on April 26, 2017, on 19th Avenue South during an argument between the two, according to the Metro Nashville Police Department.
The case drew national headlines, and Quackenbush, who's from Amarillo, Texas, was indicted by a grand jury in March 2018 on charges of attempted first-degree murder and aggravated assault with a deadly weapon.
A jury was seated Monday, Davidson County Criminal Court officials said, and opening statements in the 31-year-old woman's case were slated for Tuesday.
Quackenbush, who is facing prison time if convicted, has been free from jail on $25,000 bond since her arrest.
Previously: Katie Quackenbush indicted on charges including attempted murder in homeless man's attack
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Police said Quackenbush shot Melton after an argument about the exhaust fumes and loud music coming from her Porsche SUV. Detectives reported Melton had been trying to sleep on the sidewalk about 3 a.m. when he was disturbed.
"We knew he was yelling to us so we rolled down my window to see what he wanted," Quackenbush's female passenger testified during a December 2017 preliminary hearing.
The woman said she never felt threatened by Melton.
Melton also took the stand that day and testified Quackenbush turned up the stereo and laughed when he mentioned the car's fumes.
"She asked me if I wanted to die tonight," Melton said.
Melton said he walked away from the Porsche, and Quackenbush took a gun out of her purse and got out of her SUV.
"After she fired the first shot... I was trying to figure out if she shot me or not. I felt something here, then I saw blood and realized she shot me," Melton said.
He said she fired another shot, which hit him in the side.
Quackenbush then drove with her passenger to Taco Bell and then to Quackenbush's home.
Melton underwent at least three surgeries due to his injuries.
Nashville police spokesman Don Aaron said neither Quackenbush nor her passenger initially reported the shooting to police. Rather, another person who located Melton with gunshot wounds called for help.
Quackenbush's attorney Peter Strianse contacted the district attorney's office the following week. Prosecutors then relayed information to police about her reported involvement in the shooting.
Midtown Hills Precinct detectives interviewed her on Sept. 6, and she was later arrested.
A self-defense claim
At the time of the shooting, Quackenbush was an aspiring musician with the stage name Katie Layne who was newly arrived on the country music scene in Nashville from her hometown. She was also a single mother to a 5-year-old boy.
Strianse says Melton's behavior toward his client warranted her firing shots.
"She felt threatened," Strianse said.
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Quackenbush's father, Texas-based attorney Jesse Quackenbush, said his daughter and her friend were being accosted by Melton, who he said approached the Porsche as the women sat inside, threatening to kill them and making explicit and sexist remarks to Quackenbush.
Melton has not denied making the remarks.
“She didn’t try and kill this guy,” Jesse Quackenbush told the Tennessean after his daughter was arrested. “She had no intention of killing him. She didn’t know that she hit him.”
He said his daughter told him there was no indication the man was injured.
Natalie Neysa Alund is based in Nashville at The Tennessean and covers breaking news across the South for the USA TODAY Network. Reach her at nalund@tennessean.com and follow her on Twitter @nataliealund.
This article originally appeared on Nashville Tennessean: Katie Quackenbush, accused of shooting homeless Nashville man, on trial
