James Matthew Boyd
Rene Edith Boyd
CLINTON—A Clinton man and woman have been indicted on attempted second-degree murder charges for the alleged April 2012 shooting of a man on a gas pipeline service road off New River Highway in Briceville.
James Matthew Boyd, 31, of Dutch Valley Road, and Rene Edith Boyd, 29, of Center Valley Road, were indicted April 2 and arrested Monday. They are charged in the April 14, 2012, shooting of Christopher Paul Pruett, 34, of Batley Loop Road.
When deputies arrived at the shooting scene last year, they found a white Ford Explorer that had crashed into a ditch and a man lying on his back behind the sports utility vehicle, an Anderson County Sheriff’s Department incident report said. Deputies also spotted another man as well as a woman sitting on the ground on either side of the vehicle.
Pruett was screaming that he had been shot, the report said. It said Pruett pointed at James Boyd and shouted, “He shot me for no reason!”
The report said Pruett was flown to the University of Tennessee Medical Center in Knoxville for treatment of what were described as major injuries.
James Boyd told Anderson County Sheriff’s Department Sgt. Robert T. Mansfield that he had thrown the .40-caliber handgun allegedly used in the shooting into a wooded area across from where the SUV crashed on Gas Pipeline Service Road “P-9.”
When asked why he threw the gun, Boyd told Mansfield: “I was scared. I knew the law was coming.”
A police dog found the handgun about 30 feet from Boyd, the report said.
Besides attempted second-degree murder, James Boyd has also been charged with tampering with evidence.
The Sheriff’s Department report lists Rene Boyd as a witness, but it doesn’t describe her role in the alleged shooting.
An initial appearance for the Boyds has been scheduled for April 22.
They remained jailed Wednesday evening in the Anderson County Detention Facility in Clinton. Bond for both has been set at $75,000.
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