Tennessee man charged with killing Kentucky state trooper
Emonnie Dion Branch, 51, has been charged with murdering Kentucky State Police Trooper Hayden Phillips during a traffic stop. Branch was arrested after fleeing the scene and was held without bail. Prosecutors said he was also wanted in Tennessee for an alleged probation violation.
A Tennessee man has been charged with murder in the fatal shooting of a Kentucky state trooper and was ordered held without bail, officials said. Emonnie Dion Branch, 51, of Portland, Tennessee, was arrested in Louisville on Monday night after Trooper Hayden Phillips was shot during a vehicle stop on Interstate 65 in Warren County. Police said Branch fled in his vehicle and was arrested in Jefferson County, about 95 miles from the shooting scene.
Branch was booked into the Warren County Detention Center in Bowling Green early Tuesday and charged with murder of a first responder. If convicted, he could face the death penalty or life imprisonment. A judge denied bail at his arraignment.
A preliminary hearing on the extradition process was scheduled for Friday. A public defender attended the hearing but did not comment through the office, according to the source. Prosecutors said Branch had a lengthy criminal history and was the subject of an August arrest warrant in Sumner County, Tennessee, for allegedly violating probation.
He had been sentenced to probation the previous year after a conviction for fraud and impersonation. Authorities did not describe the alleged violation. Kentucky State Police said they did not yet know why Phillips had pulled Branch over.
A US attorney described the incident as a routine traffic stop and said officers responded within minutes. Phillips would have turned 29 on Wednesday. He had served with the state police for three years and was based in Bowling Green.
He was a husband and father of three. His body was escorted to a funeral home in Glasgow after an autopsy in Louisville, while funeral arrangements remained pending.
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