A hearing has been set for Dec. 9 to determine whether a 16-year-old charged in the gruesome killing of a Chattanooga pastor should be tried as an adult.
Assistant District Attorney H.C. Bright said he expects the hearing for Brendan Barnes to last a few hours.
“It’s not really a long case,” Bright told Hamilton County Juvenile Court Judge Suzanne Bailey.
Police say Barnes and his cousin, Antonio Henry, beat and stabbed the Rev. David Strong to death in his Glenwood Drive home. Both are charged with first-degree murder and especially aggravated robbery.
Nearly a week after the pastor was killed, police found Henry driving Strong’s vehicle.
Henry, 25, told police he had gone to Strong’s home to make some money by masturbating in front of him.
Barnes had a different story. When interviewed by investigators, he said Henry had told him he wanted to rob or kill Strong.
Henry’s case was bound over to the grand jury Wednesday.
Judge questions bond reduction
A man accused of domestic violence, the son of a Hamilton County Criminal Court clerk employee, was set free a day after a local judge set a high bond for him, and that judge wants to know why.
General Sessions Judge David Bales called Dennis Wininger’s attorneys into court Thursday to ask why the defendant was freed on his own recognizance after Bales set a $70,000 bond on two domestic violence-related charges. Wininger is the son of Bunzie Wininger, an employee of the Criminal Court Clerk’s Office.
Bales said he set the bond based on Wininger’s prior criminal history, including charges of theft. Bales also said Wininger sometimes did not appear for hearings.
Wininger’s attorney, Wendy Stanfield, said her client was arrested Tuesday after he filed an order of protection against his wife Monday. He is charged with two misdemeanors, false imprisonment and domestic assault, records show.
Stanfield appealed her client’s high bond amount to Criminal Court, where she said Judge Rebecca Stern allowed Wininger released on his own recognizance.
Stern did not return a call seeking comment Thursday.
Bales set a new hearing in the case for Nov. 17.
Compiled by staff writers Joan Garret and Dan Whisenhunt.