Antonio Boston
District Attorney Neal Pinkston checks a document while questioning a witness on the 2nd day of the murder trial of Billy Hawk in Judge Don Poole’s courtroom in Hamilton County Criminal Court on Wednesday, June 1, 2016, in Chattanooga. A grand jury indicted Hawk, 62, in September for first-degree murder in the 1981 slaying of Johnny Mack Salyer.The final charges against a Chattanooga bondsman accused of opening fire in front of a grocery store in 2015 were dropped Monday.
Charles Key, the owner of Key Bonding Co., said he and his partner were tracking Jeremy Boston’s wife to the H&H Grocery Store on Feb. 3, 2015. Because she failed to appear on a misdemeanor driving charge, a warrant had been issued for Sonya Williams. His partner, Antonio Boston, who is not related to Jeremy Boston, got out of the car and announced himself while Key approached from another vehicle.
When Jeremy Boston tried to back over him, though, a fearful Key drew his gun and fired at the back tire of Boston’s Nissan Sentra. He and Antonio Boston were arrested and charged with aggravated assault and reckless endangerment.
“It was a split-second decision, and I thought firing at the tire instead of shooting Mr. Boston was the best choice,” Key told Hamilton County General Sessions Court Judge Gary Starnes in 2015.
At the end of that hearing, Starnes dismissed Key’s aggravated assault charges but sent his reckless endangerment charge to a grand jury. His attorney, Bill Speek, said Monday his reckless endangerment charge was dismissed because an eyewitness confirmed Key’s story that Jeremy Boston tried to run him over.