Accused shooter's fate in hands of grand jury

November 23, 2006

By BEN GARRETT
Independent Herald Editor

HUNTSVILLE — Charges against Laura J. Bowling, the Helenwood woman accused of first degree murder in the shooting death of her roommate, will be presented to a grand jury in early 2007, assuming no plea agreement is reached with the state before that time.

Judge James L. (Jamie) Cotton, Jr. found probable cause to bind the case over to the grand jury following a preliminary hearing in General Sessions Court here Wednesday (Nov. 15) afternoon.

Authorities allege that Bowling, 38, shot her roommate, 21-year-old Chasty Carson, five times with a high-caliber handgun in the early morning hours of October 28. Bowling was arrested at the scene.

Wednesday’s court appearance was the second for Bowling since her arrest. She appeared in General Sessions Court for an arraignment on October 30.

Judge Cotton’s decision followed a somewhat unusual 35-minute preliminary hearing, during which the state called only one witness. Prosecutors relied on testimony from Deputy David Woodard, the Scott County Sheriff’s Department officer who was first on the scene of the shooting, and a written autopsy report from a University of Tennessee Medical Center medical examiner, to state their case. Chief Detective Don Laxton, who investigated the homicide, was sworn as a witness, but was not called by Assistant District Attorney Tom Barclay.

Attorneys for Bowling, who is being represented by the Public Defender’s office, opted not to call witnesses at the preliminary stage.

Few new details emerged during the course of the hearing. Prior to the start of proceedings, Judge Cotton asked anyone without an interest in the case who might not wish to sit through its duration to leave the courtroom, and ordered court bailiffs not to allow anyone to disturb the hearing by entering or leaving the courtroom during the course of the hearing, which he said could take up to several hours. As it turned out, however, the hearing took just over a half hour, with Deputy Woodard being the only witness to take the stand.

During his testimony to the court, Woodard said that he was at the Hwy. 27/Hwy. 63 intersection in Huntsville minutes before 1 a.m. on October 28 when he received a dispatch to respond to a shooting on Letner Lane, which is located off Cherry Fork Road in Helenwood. He stated that he arrived at the mobile home at the same time as Deputy Bill Miller, who was responding from the Oneida area.

An ambulance from Scott County EMS had also been dispatched to the scene, but was waiting at the intersection of Cherry Fork and Letner roads until law enforcement ensured that the scene was safe to enter.

Woodard testified that an unidentified person opened the front door to the residence as he was arriving in his patrol car. Upon entering the residence, he said he noticed Bowling, who he described as “real hysterical,” holding Carson’s legs. The victim was sitting in an upright position against the open refrigerator in the kitchen of the residence. He testified that she appeared to have several wounds and that there was “a lot of blood.”

During cross-examination by Bowling’s attorney, Woodard testified that Carson was still breathing when he arrived at the residence.

Woodard testified that he asked Bowling “where the weapon was,” and Bowling stated, “in there.”

Woodard and Miller did a sweep of the mobile home, Woodard testified, to ensure that no one else was in the residence. During that sweep, he testified, he noticed a revolver-type handgun lying on the floor of a bathroom in the residence.

Woodard testified that he had “no clue” that Bowling was the shooter. However, after notifying Huntsville’s dispatch office to tell the waiting ambulance to “step it up” to the scene, Woodard said that he asked Bowling who had shot the victim, to which he testified Bowling responded, “I guess I did. We’re the only two here.” Woodard said that he repeated the question, with Bowling providing the same answer.

After EMS arrived on the scene — which Woodard said took only two-to-three minutes from the time he and Deputy Miller arrived at the residence — Carson was quickly prepared for transport to Scott County Hospital ER.

Sheriff’s Department Sgt. Joel Martin had also arrived on the scene as EMS was arriving, Woodard said, and was yelling at an individual who was crossing the lawn of the mobile home and attempting to enter the residence. That individual was later identified, Woodard said, as Bowling’s son.

As Woodard departed the scene with EMS en route to the hospital, he said, Detective Laxton was arriving on the scene to begin his investigation.

After Woodard’s testimony, Barclay entered as state’s evidence the written autopsy report of Dr. Jeffrey S. Johnston, a medical examiner at the University of Tennessee Medical Center. The summary of Dr. Johnston’s report, which Barclay read aloud to the court, stated, “This 21-year-old female died of multiple gunshot wounds.”

After ruling that probable cause existed to bind the case over to the grand jury, Judge Cotton ruled that bail would remain at $500,000 secure, and ordered that if bail is made, the form of bail must be pre-approved by the court. No bail reduction request was made by Bowling’s attorneys at the hearing.

Bowling and Carson, as well as Bowling’s adult son, shared the mobile home where the shooting occurred. Members of Bowling’s family told reporters that the reason for the two living together was a domestic partnership between them, while members of Carson’s family have maintained that the two did not have a romantic relationship. Carson’s father, Roland Carson, told the Independent Herald that Carson was attempting to move out of the residence the night the shooting occurred. Authorities have not released a motive for the shooting.

The Scott County Grand Jury will next convene in March.

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