A Chattanooga man connected with the murder case that involved Angel Bumpass was charged with first-degree murder in a recent shooting.
Nicholas Cheaton, 41, was indicted Thursday by a Hamilton County grand jury, according to a Chattanooga Police Department news release.
He allegedly fatally shot a 44-year-old man on March 15 in the 3700 block of Youngstown Road.
Police have not identified the victim, and the indictment with the victim’s name was not publicly available as of Tuesday afternoon, according to the criminal court clerk’s office.
Cheaton was previously interviewed about the 2009 killing of 68-year-old Franklin Bonner.
Hamilton County District Attorney Coty Wamp confirmed by text message, “it is indeed the same Cheaton.”
(SIGN UP: Get breaking news in your inbox as it happens by going to timesfreepress.com/breaking)
Bumpass was convicted of first-degree murder and attempt to commit especially aggravated robbery in connection with Bonner’s death, and she was 13 when she allegedly committed the crime. Her co-defendant, Mallory Vaughn, was acquitted.
Bumpass was the center of national media attention, as many found her conviction unjust, claiming she would not have been capable of the crime at her age.
In August 2023, Wamp dismissed the case against Bumpass without prejudice, meaning charges can be brought again.
During the course of the investigation into Bonner’s death, Cheaton was interviewed by prosecutors while federally incarcerated, the Chattanooga Times Free Press previously reported.
Cheaton claimed his cousin, Vaughn, confessed to him about robbing and killing Bonner. Cheaton was released May 22, 2024, from federal custody, according to the Bureau of Prisons.
He is currently in custody in Walker County, Georgia, on other charges, the Chattanooga police press release said.
(READ MORE: Man found guilty of Chattanooga double murder of mother, 7-year-old daughter)
Cheaton is accused in the death of another man one day prior to the Youngstown Road incident.
On March 14, William Oliver Jones was found dead on the floor of his Chickamauga home on Highway 136, according to a news release from the Georgia Bureau of Investigation.
A GBI investigation connected Cheaton to the incident, the release said.
He was arrested and booked into the Hamilton County Jail and extradited to Walker County.
A woman found Jones, 39, at his home and called 911, according to an incident report.
She was at Jones’ house to pick up her son when she allegedly found Jones on the floor with burns.
Contact Sofia Saric at ssaric@timesfreepress.com or 423-757-6476.