An Oak Ridge man who had been accused of stabbing his girlfriend and trying to kill her last year was convicted of attempted murder this week.
McKinley Earl McGee, 50, was convicted after a jury trial that started Tuesday morning in Anderson County Criminal Court in Clinton. Seventh Judicial District Attorney General Dave Clark announced the conviction in a press release on Wednesday. The 12-person jury deliberated about 58 minutes before returning with its verdict, Clark said.
McGee was convicted of attempted second-degree murder, aggravated assault with a deadly weapon, and aggravated assault with serious bodily injury, Clark said.
McGee was convicted of stabbing and trying to kill Machel Elaine Avery on Utica Circle in Oak Ridge on January 12, 2018, Clark said.
Avery received emergency lifesaving medical care after the stabbing and emergency surgery at the University of Tennessee Medical Center in Knoxville, Clark said. She recovered from her injuries and attended the trial this week.
The Oak Ridge Police Department located and arrested McGee shortly after the attack last year, Clark said. McGee was indicted by the Anderson County Grand Jury in Clinton on May 1, 2018.
After the stabbing, police officers reported that Avery had several stab wounds in the area of her torso. The stabbing with a knife was reported to have occurred after McGee and Avery had argued inside an apartment after McGee accused Avery of taking money from him, according to affidavits filed in Anderson County General Sessions Court by ORPD Officer Chris Wallace.
“When the victim stated to the defendant she did not take his money, she stated the defendant produced a knife and stabbed her,†the affidavits said.
The indictment for attempted second-degree murder had accused McGee of knowingly trying to kill Avery.
McGee had been released from jail on bond, and he was not in custody at the time of the trial. But after the conviction on all counts, his bond was revoked, and he was immediately taken back into custody, Clark said. He is currently being held at the Anderson County Detention Facility in Clinton, the DA said.
McGee will be sentenced in Anderson County Criminal Court on September 9. The sentence for attempted second-degree murder ranges from eight to 30 years.
Tony Craighead, deputy attorney general in the Seventh Judicial District in Anderson County, was the prosecutor. Curtis W. Isabell was the defense attorney. Judge Donald Elledge presided over the trial.
“I am grateful for the fine work of General Craighead, the Oak Ridge Police Department, the court, and everyone involved in this trial,” Clark said. “We believe justice was done.”
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More information will be added as it becomes available.
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