A month after a Bradley County, Tenn., man was charged with shooting his daughter’s grandparents to death outside their home, he is one step closer to going to trial.
The Bradley County grand jury indicted 32-year-old Aaron Lawson on two counts of first-degree murder when it met last Wednesday, 10th Judicial Circuit District Attorney Steve Bebb said. The indictments didn’t become public record until Monday.
Police believe Lawson shot 58-year-old Eddie Phillips and his 54-year-old wife, Debbie, multiple times outside their Charleston home on April 19, then fled from police. He hid at his uncle’s repair shop in Hamilton County until police surrounded it and arrested him early in the afternoon of the next day.
Lawson, who is the father of the Phillipses’ 11-year-old granddaughter, was angry because he wanted to spend Easter weekend with the girl, but his former girlfriend’s family wouldn’t let him, Lawson’s family and police have said.
Police contend that Lawson went to the Phillipses’ home to kill them, but Lawson’s family members argue he went to the couple’s house to talk to them and snapped while he was there.