A Tennessee man is charged with murder after police said he shot and killed a Kentucky State Police trooper during a traffic stop Monday before a manhunt ended with his arrest in Louisville.
The suspect was identified as 51 year-old Emonnie Branch of Portland, Tennessee.
Louisville Metro Police arrested Branch off Dixie Highway near West Lee Street after law enforcement agencies searched for him across several counties.
According to Kentucky State Police Commissioner Phillip Burnett, Trooper Hayden Phillips stopped a vehicle around 2 p.m. on Interstate 65 in Warren County near Smith’s Grove. Phillips was assigned to KSP Post 3 in Bowling Green.
Police said an occupant of the vehicle shot Phillips during the traffic stop before fleeing the scene. Phillips died from his injuries.
Branch is charged with murder of a first responder in connection with Phillips’ death. During a news conference Monday night, U.S. Attorney for the Western District of Kentucky Kyle Bumgarner said Branch will be taken to Warren County to face charges in state court.
According to court records from the Tennessee Department of Correction, Branch had at least one active warrant out for his arrest. He was arrested in Tennessee on charges of fraud and impersonation and sentenced to 5 years probation in July of last year.
His probation was set to be up in 2030.
According to Burnett, Phillips was a devoted husband and father to three young boys. Friends in law enforcement described him as a family man who loved being a dad and throwing a baseball with his sons.
Phillips graduated from the police academy in 2023 and served with the Glasgow Police Department before joining the Kentucky State Police. He worked on the drug interdiction unit out of Kentucky State Police Post 3 in Bowling Green.
Source: WDRB+WAVE
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