Matthew Allen Mashburn
A Knoxville man has been indicted in an alleged robbery that was reportedly set up through social media and resulted in a man being shot in the legs on East Holston Lane in Oak Ridge in November.
Matthew Allen Mashburn, 28, of Knox Lane in Knoxville, has been charged with especially aggravated robbery, conspiracy to commit aggravated robbery, aggravated assault with serious bodily injury, and aggravated assault. He was indicted by the Anderson County Grand Jury on Tuesday, September 5.
The indictments said that the victim, Wesley Arnold, was seriously injured and assaulted while a handgun was displayed, and Mashburn had conspired with Nicole Brewer to plan the aggravated robbery during a drug transaction.
Mashburn has an arraignment scheduled for 9 a.m. Friday, September 29, in Anderson County Criminal Court in Clinton.
Charges against him had been bound over, or sent to, the grand jury after a preliminary hearing in Anderson County General Sessions Court in Oak Ridge on December 13.
The alleged shooting was described as a “drug deal gone bad” in affidavits filed in Anderson County General Sessions Court in November. It was reported at about 12:58 p.m. Tuesday, November 15, at 104 East Holston Lane. Arnold, the victim, had two gunshot wounds, one to each leg, according to the affidavits, which were filed in November by Oak Ridge Police Department Detective Marvell Moore. Arnold was hit as he attempted to flee the East Holston Lane home, the affidavits said.
After the shooting, three people were quickly arrested and charged with especially aggravated robbery, aggravated assault, and criminal conspiracy, Oak Ridge Today reported in November. Besides Mashburn, they were Nicholas Strickland, now 26, of South Benedict Avenue in Oak Ridge, and Nicole Brewer, now 20, of Highland Avenue in Oak Ridge.
The Tuesday afternoon shooting on East Holston Lane on Nov. 15, 2016, was allegedly a robbery arranged through social media, and it was described by the alleged shooter as a “drug deal gone bad,†authorities said. The three defendants are, from left, Nicole Brewer, who was then 19, of Oak Ridge; Nicholas Strickland, who was then 25, of Oak Ridge; and Matthew A. Mashburn, who was then 27, of Knoxville. (Photos by Anderson County Sheriff’s Department)
At the time, Brewer told Moore that she arranged the robbery, and she contacted Arnold through a social media site to conduct the deal, Moore wrote in the affidavits.
“She (Brewer) advised the drug deal was supposed to be a ‘rip,’ meaning there wasn’t going to be any money exchanged for the substance (methamphetamine),†Moore said.
When Arnold, who had a Clinton address, arrived at the East Holston Lane home, he was instructed to come inside, Moore wrote. Arnold and Brewer’s two co-defendants, Strickland and Mashburn, went into a bedroom while Brewer remained in the living room, the affidavits said.
“A short time later, a verbal argument between the male subjects erupted into gunfire,†the affidavits said. “The victim ran out of the bedroom, into the living room, and down the stairs toward the exit, where he was kicked in the head by co-defendant Mashburn. Co-defendant Brewer instructed the victim to give them the dope, which he did.â€
Arnold was shot with a black semi-automatic Sig Sauer .40 caliber handgun, according to the affidavits. He was taken to Methodist Medical Center of Oak Ridge by his girlfriend and later transferred to the University of Tennessee Medical Center in Knoxville.
Arnold knows Brewer and Strickland, according to the affidavits.
Moore said Strickland confessed to intentionally shooting Arnold in the leg during a “drug deal gone bad.â€
“He stated it was in self-defense,†Moore said.
Oak Ridge Police Department Detective John Criswell found two spent casings at the scene.
Mashburn denied knowing anything about the robbery, although he was apprehended on Wade Lane shortly after the shooting with the defendant and he had Arnold’s knife with him, Moore said.
Mashburn’s bond had been set at $150,00o in Anderson County General Sessions Court. He was released from the Anderson County Detention Facility in Clinton on March 17.
The Oak Ridge Police Department investigates a shooting on East Holston Lane at about 1 p.m. Tuesday, Nov. 15, 2016. (Photo by John Huotari/Oak Ridge Today)
Charges against Strickland and Brewer were also bound over to the grand jury on December 13, although they haven’t been indicted. Grand jury proceedings are secret, so it’s not clear if they will be or, if they are, what charges they might face.
A charge against Brewer in a separate case, contributing or encouraging unruly behavior, was also bound over to the grand jury after the preliminary hearing on December 13.
In that October 26 incident, which was also investigated by Moore, Brewer had allegedly supplied a juvenile intending to run away from home with a way to get from Oak Ridge to Knoxville, according to an affidavit. And she had helped the child, who was younger than 16 years old, use methamphetamine by shooting up the girl, Moore said in the affidavit.
Medical records from Children’s Hospital confirmed the juvenile had methamphetamine and THC (tetrahyrocannabinol), the active ingredient in marijuana, in her system, the affidavit said.
Brewer said the juvenile had called her from her job crying and upset because the girl’s parents had found about her drug use, according to the affidavit.
“The defendant (Brewer) advised it was the juvenile’s idea to run away to Knoxville,” Moore said in the affidavit. “The defendant made arrangements for someone to pick them up at the juvenile’s job. Prior to leaving the city of Oak Ridge for Knoxville, the defendant and juvenile consumed methamphetamine (ice) by using a hypodermic needle. The defendant admitted to shooting the juvenile up with the drug. She stated, ‘I rather I do it than she do it and mess herself up.'”
Brewer has been jailed at the Anderson County Detention Facility since November 15, according to jail records, and her bond has been set at $155,000, according to court records.
Bond for Strickland was set at $150,000, and he has remained jailed since November 15, according to jail records.
More information will be added as it becomes available.
See previous story on the alleged robbery and shooting here.
More information will be added as it becomes available.
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