From the Chattanooga Times Free Press: The homicide case against a Rhea County man accused in the Feb. 24 shooting death of Roy Hickman Jr. has be
From the Chattanooga Times Free Press: The homicide case against a Rhea County man accused in the Feb. 24 shooting death of Roy Hickman Jr. has been sent to the Rhea County grand jury for consideration for an indictment.
Jackie Lee Goss, 29, of Dayton, was charged with criminal homicide after allegedly shooting Hickman several times with an SKS rifle at a home on Burke Lane near the Bledsoe County line, according to a sworn law enforcement affidavit in the case.
Goss remains in the Rhea County Jail on a $1 million bond, court officials said Monday. Goss’ case was heard at a preliminary hearing April 4 in General Sessions Court, where it was sent to criminal court.
The grand jury meets next on June 5, court officials said.
Goss and Hickman — referred to as “Junior” in portions of the affidavit in the case — had been arguing at the Burke Lane home, according to the document. Goss wanted Hickman to give him a ride and Hickman refused, a witness told authorities. Goss allegedly left the Burke Lane property and returned about five minutes later.
The witness, who was sitting in a car at the home, told authorities Hickman and Goss were arguing near a garage and a rifle barrel could be seen pointing toward Hickman, according to the affidavit. Several shots rang out, according to the witness’s account to investigators, and Hickman was seen falling to the ground. The witness crawled over to Hickman and found he wasn’t breathing, the affidavit states.
Then Goss left the home again and went down the road to a neighbor’s home that was soon surrounded by deputies, the affidavit states. Goss surrendered to officers after about an hour.
“I examined the body of Junior Hickman and he had several gunshot wounds, one I could see on his upper torso and one to the leg,” Rhea County Sheriff’s Office Deputy Chris Hall states in the affidavit.
Four spent 7.62×39 mm shells were found near Hickman’s body, the affidavit states.
A search of the home where Goss lives resulted in the alleged recovery of two SKS rifles along with several rounds of 7.62×39 mm rounds of ammunition for the weapon found outside the home there, the affidavit states. The SKS is a semi-automatic military rifle first manufactured in the Soviet Union in the 1940s, according to a historical account on the website military-today.com.
If indicted, Goss will have to re-establish his legal representation in the next tier of the judicial system, court officials said Monday. He was previously represented in General Sessions Court action by Public Defender Ted Engle, who could be reappointed, officials said.
