A Warren County grand jury indicted 51 year-old Emonnie Branch, of Portland Tennessee, Thursday after he allegedly fatally shot Kentucky State Police Trooper Hayden Phillips.
Branch was indicted on charges of murder of a first responder, possession of a handgun by a convicted felon and tampering with physical evidence.
He was originally scheduled to appear in court Friday. He will be arraigned October 12 after the case was transferred to Warren Circuit Court.
According to Kentucky State Police Commissioner Phillip Burnett, Phillips stopped the vehicle around 2 p.m. on I-65 in Warren County. Phillips was assigned to Kentucky State Police Post 3 in Bowling Green. Police said suspect Branch shot Phillips during the traffic stop before fleeing the scene. Phillips died from his injuries.
A criminal complaint states Phillips stopped a vehicle with an expired temporary tag on Interstate 65 Monday before he was fatally shot.
According to court records from the Tennessee Department of Correction, Branch had at least one active warrant for his arrest. He was arrested in Tennessee on charges of fraud and impersonation and sentenced to five years of probation last July. That probation was set to end in 2030.
In court for his arraignment Tuesday morning, Judge Kimberly Geoghegan denied bail for Branch. He is being held in the Warren County Regional Jail.
Source: WDRB+WAVE
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