A man from Knoxville, Tennessee, is facing second-degree murder charges, according to the Knoxville Police Department, stemming from a fatal shooting incident that began with a dispute over dog waste.
Law enforcement agents in Knoxville were summoned to an East Oldham Avenue residence at roughly 6 p.m. on Saturday, December 23, 2023.
Upon reaching the location, officers found a man with at least one bullet wound. Despite the immediate life-saving measures taken by the officers, the man died at the scene.
The suspect, 34-year-old Stefen White, is said to have engaged in a heated argument with the victim over the issue of White’s not cleaning up dog excrement in the yard they shared. Allegedly, the dispute escalated, and White is accused of pulling out a handgun and shooting the man in the chest.
Statements made by witnesses, as cited in the arrest warrant, challenge White’s account that the victim had struck him in the face before the shooting.
White has been taken into custody and is being held at the Roger D. Wilson Detention Facility. The identity of the deceased has not been disclosed as the police investigation is still underway.
White made his first court appearance on December 28 and is set to appear again on January 11, 2024. His bond has been set at $100,000, and as per the most recent updates, lawyer information has not been made available in the jail records.
The Knoxville Police Department’s Homicide Unit detectives are conducting an ongoing investigation into the incident, striving to establish the sequence of events leading up to the fatal shooting.
