Ashley D. Boss
Matthew L. KellerThe woman who was fighting with a man shot dead Friday by a Marion County homeowner now faces multiple charges stemming from the incident.
According to Marion County court records, 24-year-old Ashley D. Boss of Chattanooga is out on a $7,500 bond on charges of public intoxication, trespassing, resisting arrest and reckless endangerment. Boss' court date is Oct. 12, court officials said.
Charges against Boss stem from a deadly encounter Friday with a homeowner on Mullins Cove Road in a remote area along the Tennessee River where 33-year-old Matthew L. Keller was shot and killed by the man who lived there, identified in an affidavit as Victor Powell. Boss told officers at the scene she had taken mushrooms and drunk alcohol, according to the affidavit.
Powell encountered the two after he heard a noise in his yard outside and went to check it out, according to Tennessee Bureau of Investigation spokeswoman Leslie Earhart. Powell did not know Boss or Keller.
After finding the two involved in an altercation on his deck, Powell, armed with a handgun, began to struggle with Keller, Earhart said.
That gun ended up within reach of Boss, who picked it up and fired one shot, according to an affidavit filed in Marion County court. Officials found a spent round stuck in the gun's action but did not say where that bullet ended up.
Marion County Sheriff Ronnie "Bo" Burnett said that was when Powell retrieved a second handgun, pointed it at Keller and told him not to move and that the police were on the way. Burnett said Keller rushed Powell again and Powell fired, striking and killing Keller.
Powell has not been charged and Keller's body has been sent for an autopsy.
Keller was a former four-time state champion wrestler at Bradley Central High School, an All-America wrestler at the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga and had also wrestled at the University of Nebraska, records show.
Friends told the Times Free Press recently that Keller was released from prison within the last year after serving four years on federal drug charges and was trying to turn over a new leaf. After his release, Keller became a yoga instructor, a wrestling teacher and he worked for a tree-cutting service.
Keller had also been working at The Factory at East Ridge, according to a Facebook page called "Keller Time." According to posts on the page, he and Boss worked together as yoga instructors and were planning a yoga and movement arts festival called Devine Fire Yoga Festival to be held the weekend of Sept. 30 at Reflection Riding Arboretum & Botanical Garden in Chattanooga.
Keller said during an interview with the Times Free Press about the festival last week that yoga and meditation had helped him find peace and beauty in everything.
The event now also will include a celebration of life event honoring Keller.
Contact staff writer Ben Benton at bbenton@timesfreepress.com or 423-757-6569.