Fox News Flash top headlines for August 19
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The son of a Tennessee judge is charged with attempted murder in connection to the shooting of a woman at a home outside Nashville last weekend – and is accused of stealing a Jeep belonging to her boyfriend, a state lawmaker's nephew, who turned up shot dead elsewhere in the city.
Samuel Earl Rich, the 25-year-old son of Bedford County General Sessions Court Judge Charles L. Rich, is so far charged with attempted murder and theft after allegedly shooting Hannah Grace Perryman in the head inside a home located on Temple Ford Road in Shelbyville early Aug. 13.
His next court appearance is scheduled for Friday morning.
He is also accused of stealing a Jeep parked outside belonging to Perryman’s boyfriend, James William Warner, WTVF reported, citing an arrest affidavit. Perryman had come to the home looking for her boyfriend – but he was not there and she instead found Rich inside. She managed to dial 911 to tell dispatchers she had been shot, as Rich allegedly fled in the stolen vehicle.
She was airlifted to Vanderbilt University Medical Center in critical condition.
Meanwhile, Metro Nashville Police said Rich was being sought for questioning in connection to the murder of Warner, who was found shot dead hours earlier on the night of Aug. 12 near 35th Avenue North in Nashville. Warner is the nephew of Republican state Rep. Todd Warner.
Samuel Rich was placed on Tennessee's Most Wanted List. (Tennessee Bureau of Investigation)
Rich has not been formally charged with murder in connection to Warner’s death.
The Tennessee Bureau of Investigation (TBI) had placed Rich on its Most Wanted list, until he surrendered to a Bedford County detective on Sunday night. He was subsequently arrested and booked into the Bedford County Jail without bond. TBI is now leading the investigation into Warner’s death.
Rich’s court appearances were delayed amid concerns over conflicts of interest due to the fact that his father is a judge in Bedford County. Rich previously served time at the Tennessee Department of Correction, and was on parole at the time of the shooting that wounded Perryman.
Robert Carter, the 17th District attorney general, denied claims that Judge Charles L. Rich ever waived previous charges against his son in order to skirt responsibility. Related to a felony aggravated burglary and misdemeanor theft charge stemming from April 5, 2019, the younger Rich agreed to waive general sessions court, where his father is a judge, and go directly to circuit court, Carter told WKRN.
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"The way the case got from general session to circuit court was via criminal information," Carter told the station. "The criminal information is when a defendant will waive his or her right to be presented to the grand jury and that’s what happened here, so the case goes from general sessions to circuit court directly via the criminal information, and then that general sessions case has to be disposed of so the circuit court case can be handled, which is exactly what happened here on the same date."
Fox News reached out to Judge Rich and state Rep. Warner for comment Thursday.
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