Angela Denise Kilgore, 51, of Whitwell, is charged in connection with the death of pawn shop owner Jerry Don Ridge, according to TBI officials. Ridge’s body was found May 17 after firefighters extinguished a fire at Valley Pawn Brokers on State Route 28 in the small Marion County town.JASPER, Tenn. – A jury evenly split between men and women was seated in a Marion County courtroom late Monday in the trial of the 53-year-old woman charged in the 2016 arson and slaying of a Whitwell, Tennessee, pawnshop owner.
Jurors on Tuesday morning will hear state testimony in the murder case against Angela Denise Kilgore in the slaying of 72-year-old Valley Pawn Brokers owner Jerry Ridge, whose body was found inside his State Route 28 business on May 17, 2016.
Kilgore, 53, was charged in October 2016 with first-degree murder, felony murder, especially aggravated robbery, employing a firearm during the commission of a dangerous felony, aggravated arson, theft, and unlawful possession of a firearm by a felon.
Ridge had been shot and stabbed, and Kilgore was a person of interest early in the investigation.
State Senior Judge Don Ash, from Rutherford County, is presiding over the case. Ash was appointed to the case after 12th Judicial District Judges Thomas W. Graham, J. Curtis Smith and Justin C. Angel each recused themselves from the case citing conflicts.