Christopher Padgett captured after cutting off his ankle monitor during murder trial

photo Christopher Padgett

About two weeks after Christopher Padgett cut his ankle monitor and disappeared during his murder trial, authorities found the 22-year-old inside a Brainerd home early Friday morning.

A cadre of law enforcement officials found Padgett hiding under a mattress in the back bedroom of a home on the 3200 block of South Street, said Elisa Myzal, Chattanooga Police Department spokeswoman.

Because he was sentenced to life in prison after jurors convicted him of first-degree murder in the 2012 slaying of a taxi cab driver, Padgett does not face additional charges, Myzal said. But another man inside the house, 21-year-old Javonte Wynn, was arrested on outstanding warrants for evading arrest, possessing a firearm with intent to go armed and failure to appear. He is scheduled to appear before Hamilton County Sessions Court Judge Christie Sell on Oct. 31.

Earlier this month, after waiting more than four years to try the case, prosecutors said cellphone records proved Padgett shot 31-year-old Nathan Deere in the back of the head, robbed him, and fled his cab at 1643 Ocoee St. Prosecutors rested their case Oct. 5 after calling to the stand police officers, eyewitnesses and an expert witness, who said Padgett was in the same area as Deere when the homicide happened.

The next morning though, Padgett was nowhere to be found.

County Corrections Department officials said Padgett cut his ankle monitor around 1:40 a.m. and fled from his mother's apartment, where he had been staying since he made a $350,000 bond just days before his trial began. Prior to that, he had been in Hamilton County Jail for nearly a year and a half, records show.

Ruling that attorneys could continue without Padgett present, a judge sentenced him to life in prison Oct. 7 after jurors returned a conviction for felony murder. Padgett will be sentenced for his second conviction of especially aggravated robbery on Dec. 15.

When Padgett first disappeared, the news sent law enforcement and four bonding companies scrambling. Because the four bonding companies helped secure Padgett's release from jail, they would be on the hook for the money if he never returned.

A judge must still decide whether to forfeit the bond and make them collectively pay the court back the $350,000, said Bill Speek, a defense attorney who is representing Key Bonding in the matter.

"But they took a lot of effort and worked quickly in apprehending him," Speek said Friday, adding that Key Bonding had several agents following leads on Padgett's whereabouts.

The bonding company's recovery team had stopped by the South Street home on "multiple occasions," he said. But ultimately, the Chattanooga Police Department, a special agent from the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation, the U.S. Marshals Service, the Catoosa County Sheriff's Department, and the Hamilton County Fugitive Unit arrested Padgett without incident.

A Times Free Press investigation into Padgett's escape revealed that no county employees track area offenders on ankle monitors after business hours or on weekends.

"These are the kind of incidents that prompt change," Speek said. "I would imagine that Hamilton County is going to look closely at their pretrial house arrest program and make changes necessary to ensure the public's welfare."

Mike Dunne, a spokesman for county Mayor Jim Coppinger, said Coppinger commended the police department for capturing Padgett. He declined to comment on whether Coppinger's office was developing any solutions to fix the monitoring program.

Contact staff writer Zack Peterson at zpeterson@timesfreepress.com or 423-757-6347. Follow on Twitter @zackpeterson918.

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