Suspect appears before judge for first time since courtroom brawl

Eric McCullough is taken back to jail by court officers after appearing with attorney Garth Best, left, in the courtroom of Judge Gary Starnes on Tuesday, Sept. 1, 2015, in Chattanooga, Tenn.
Eric McCullough is taken back to jail by court officers after appearing with attorney Garth Best, left, in the courtroom of Judge Gary Starnes on Tuesday, Sept. 1, 2015, in Chattanooga, Tenn.

Criminal homicide and aggravated assault charges filed against Eric McCullough, 46, were bound over to a Hamilton County grand jury on Tuesday in a locked General Sessions courtroom with increased security.

photo Eric McCullough appears in the courtroom of Judge Gary Starnes on Tuesday, Sept. 1, 2015, in Chattanooga, Tenn.

It was McCullough's second time in Judge Gary Starnes' courtroom on charges that he fatally stabbed his niece, 23-year-old Tyecha McCullough, on July 29 in College Hill Courts.

During his first appearance in front of Starnes on Aug. 18, Eric McCullough was attacked in the courtroom by a man he allegedly stabbed during the encounter that resulted in Tyecha McCullough's death.

Antwon Lee, 25, who was in court that day to testify against Eric McCullough, struck him in front of Starnes' bench during an encounter that reporters caught on video. According to an affidavit, Lee attempted to protect Tyecha McCullough from her uncle on the night she was killed.

The courtroom attack forced the hearing to be delayed until Tuesday and, with extra security personnel in the courtroom, the proceedings concluded without any drama.

McCullough remains in the Hamilton County Jail on $200,000 bond.

When police responded to College Hill Courts on the night of July 29, they found Tyecha McCullough with a stab wound to the chest. She was pronounced dead at the hospital.

Lee told officers that Eric McCullough jumped from a porch and attacked his niece without warning, and that Lee's side was slashed while he attempted to stop the attack.

Eric McCullough told police that his niece initiated the encounter by punching him in the forehead, which is why he stabbed her. He also told officers that Lee had been punching him in the head.

McCullough's attorney, Garth Best, did not return a phone call for comment on Tuesday.

Contact staff writer David Cobb at 423-757-6249 or dcobb@timesfreepress.com.

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