| Plea bargain rejected
in murder case
By David Hedges, Publisher
Times Record-Roane County Reporter
An effort by a man charged with murder to enter a plea to a misdemeanor charge of involuntary manslaughter was rejected Monday.
Roane Circuit Judge David Nibert ordered that charges against Daniel Wayne Kelly go to trial, and set a trial date of Jan. 31.
"I just don't feel comfortable accepting a misdemeanor plea when I've got a murder indictment," Nibert said during a Monday morning hearing. "Let's allow these issues to be determined by a jury at a public trial."
The 24-year-old Kelly is charged with the death of Jason Wayne Coon, 25, who allegedly was struck in the head during an altercation at the Crihfield Trailer Park on Steele Hollow Road in October of last year.
Police said several people had been drinking at the home of Heath "Bud" Crihfield on the afternoon of Coon's death.
After Coon was knocked unconscious, he was carried inside the trailer where he laid for what defense attorney Dennis Curry said was a period of 46 minutes before anyone called for help....
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