Grundy couple pleads not guilty to charges leveled in Oct. 18 shooting of child

Two Tracy City, Tennessee, residents have been charged on grand jury indictments in the Oct. 18 nonfatal shooting of a 9-year-old boy by another boy, also 9, but few details are available on the incident.

The young alleged victim in the shooting still has a bullet lodged in his body as he continues to recover, according to investigators.

Gregory Scott Nickell, 64, and Julie Lynn Nickell, 50, are each charged with four counts of reckless endangerment with a deadly weapon, according to documents in Grundy County Circuit Court. The indictments were issued during the grand jury's November session.

Gregory Nickell is additionally charged with three counts of being a convicted felon in possession of a weapon, related to a 9 mm pistol, .38-caliber revolver and a shotgun allegedly found in his possession, court documents state.

(READ MORE: Tracy City, Tennessee, authorities investigate Sunday shooting of boy)

The Nickells are each charged with reckless endangerment with a deadly weapon linked to three alleged victims, identified in court documents only by their initials. Gregory Nickell is free on a $50,000 bond and Julie Nickell is free on a $25,000 bond. Both face appearances in Grundy County Circuit Court set for Feb. 13, court officials said Monday.

Attorneys for the Nickells -- Sam Hudson for Gregory Nickell and Thomas Austin for Julie Nickell -- were in court Monday and couldn't be reached for comment.

The Nickells are related to the boy who allegedly pulled the trigger that fired the shot that injured the other boy and are the owners of the home where the incident took place and the weapons involved in the charges, Tracy City police Chief Charlie Wilder said Monday in a phone interview.

(READ MORE: 3 dead, 17 victims total after shooting on McCallie Avenue in Chattanooga)

The firearms charges against Gregory Nickell in Tennessee stem from a conviction on a felony charge of dependent neglect in Indiana, according to Wilder.

Wilder said the boy wounded in the shooting is still recovering and his prognosis remains unclear at this point.

"He's doing a little better, but he's going to have some long-term stuff to get over," Wilder said.

"I talked to his dad a couple of weeks ago and his kidney and liver seem to be healing but they don't know if there's going to be long-term paralysis or not," he said. "They didn't remove the bullet so as the body grows and it moves around they don't know what's going to happen to that yet."

Court officials said there had been no other action in the case as of Monday.

Contact Ben Benton at bbenton@timesfreepress.com or 423-757-6569. Follow him on Twitter @BenBenton.


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