A Tennessee woman, Katie Quackenbush has managed to avoid jail time after being convicted of shooting a homeless man on Nashville’s Music Row after he asked her to move her car. She has been sentenced to less than a year of probation.
Katie Quackenbush, a 32-year-old mother of four, was driving her car down Nashville’s iconic strip on Aug. 26, 2017, when her loud music and exhaust awakened sleeping homeless man Gerald Melton.
The two got into a heated argument which escalated to Quackenbush asking the man if he wanted to die.
She then exited her car, took out her gun, and shot him twice in the abdomen. After the incident, she drove to Taco Bell with a friend before going home.
Melton survived the shooting but required three surgeries. He was reportedly walking away at the time of the shooting.
Quackenbush was arrested and charged with first-degree murder and aggravated assault with a deadly weapon.
However, her sentence was reduced to a reckless endangerment misdemeanor after she testified she fired the gun in self-defense.
JUST IN: Katie Quackenbush sentenced to 11 months and 29 days of supervised probation after shooting a homeless man in Nashville back in 2017. She was not granted judicial diversion as her team requested. https://t.co/S0FYnsEocs @WKRN pic.twitter.com/ovsBYyjiUg
— Nickelle Smith (@NickelleReports) November 3, 2022
Quackenbush’s father, Texas attorney Jesse Quackenbush, stated that Melton threatened to kill his daughter if she didn’t turn her radio down.
Jesse said the man threatened his daughter, which is why Quackenbush said she had a gun. Even with that statement, Jesse said the man continued coming closer to her, so she shot a warning. Still, it didn’t work, so she shot another one, which hit the victim.
Quackenbush claimed she was afraid of the man at last Thursday’s sentencing. However, an eyewitness heard her say she was not afraid of Melton and did not take his words seriously.
The woman has a history of disturbing behavior. She admitted to threatening to hit a baby with a brick. She also poured water on a woman in a restaurant.
Quackenbush apologized to Melton at the hearing but presented herself as a victim. She said she was harassed, received death threats, and had difficulty finding work.
She was sentenced to 11 months and 29 days of probation. Although once a Nashville resident, she has since moved to Texas. She will serve out the sentence in her new home.
