Christopher Lee Roberts
The defendant in a fatal shooting near Clinton on Thursday pulled out a gun during an argument, and it fired when the victim tried to grab it, according to court records.
After the shooting, the defendant, Christopher Lee Roberts, 45, who has been charged with criminal homicide, repeatedly said “I just f****d up” or “I messed up,” according to home owner Martin “Chris” Alsop and resident Michael Carroll.
The shooting, which killed Bradley Charles Bivens, 48, was reported at 611 Sinking Springs Road in Anderson County at about 9 p.m. Thursday.
Anderson County Sheriff’s Department Investigator Rodney Minor said he found the body of a white man, identified as Bivens, laying face down in or near the garage area of the home when he arrived Thursday night. Patrol Deputy Christopher E. Paul was already at the home and so was Anderson County EMS, which had confirmed that Bivens was dead, according to an affidavit (a sworn narrative) attached to an arrest warrant filed in Anderson County General Sessions Court in Clinton.
There was blood around Bivens’ head, and a .45-caliber shell casing was found next to his body, Minor said.
Alsop, the home owner, told Minor that he was in the garage with Bivens and Roberts, who had been arguing, when he saw Roberts “pull a gun” on Bivens, according to the affidavit. Bivens tried to grab the gun, and it “went off,” Alsop said.
After Bivens was shot, Roberts repeatedly said, “I just f****d up,” Alsop told Minor, according to the affidavit. Alsop said Roberts had recently purchased a .45-caliber handgun, and he had been showing it off the last few weeks.
Carroll, the resident, said he was upstairs in the home at the time of the shooting, and he could hear Bivens and Roberts arguing.
Carroll said he heard a loud noise downstairs, according to the affidavit. When he looked out the window, he saw Roberts pacing back and forth, and he heard Roberts say, “I messed up,” Minor, the investigator, said in the affidavit.
The criminal homicide charge alleges Roberts intentionally fired the handgun, killing Bivens.
The Anderson County Sheriff’s Department had earlier asked for help finding Roberts but announced Tuesday that he had been arrested without incident by investigators in the afternoon at the home of a relative on Ridenour Circle near Clinton. Roberts lives in an outbuilding on the same property, the Sheriff’s Department said.
Roberts was booked on a charge of criminal homicide, and he is being held without bond in the Anderson County Detention Facility in Clinton. He has a court date scheduled for March 7 in Anderson County General Sessions Court in Clinton.
Sinking Springs Road runs roughly parallel to North Charles G. Seivers Boulevard between the Clinch River and Interstate 75.
More information will be added as it becomes available.
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