Deputies: Ringgold man shot 19-year-old to cover plot to rob and kill a friend's father

Raymond Arthur Lyle
Raymond Arthur Lyle

Investigators say a 20-year-old Ringgold, Ga., man shot another man in the chest because he thought the man was going to expose his plot to rob and kill a friend's father, according to the Hamilton County Sheriff's Office.

Raymond Lyle III told police he accidentally shot 19-year-old Justin Allen on Nov. 16 at 6612 Waconda Point Road in Harrison. But the evidence at the scene contradicted his story, and Lyle was arrested and charged with attempted first-degree murder on Tuesday.

Investigators claim he was recruited by a friend, Thomas Bedford Claxton, 20, to kill Claxton's father.

According to court documents, Claxton, Lyle, Allen and a fourth man were planning to shoot Claxton's father and steal guns and cash from the home on Waconda Point Road, where Claxton was living in the basement.

Claxton told deputies that his father was going to force him out of the home in January if he didn't get a job or start college, according to court records. He told investigators that he was an heir and that he hoped to benefit financially from his father's death, officers wrote in his arrest report.

Deputies believe Claxton gave Lyle and the fourth man the security code to his father's house, as well as the combination to his father's gun safe, so they could burglarize the home. Claxton was arrested on Nov. 17 and charged with solicitation to commit first-degree murder and aggravated burglary.

Lyle and the fourth man denied the plot. They said they were staying with Claxton because they didn't have enough money to travel to Florida, and they arrived at the Waconda Point home around 4:30 p.m. Nov. 16.

Lyle and the fourth man told police they poked around the home and discovered a .22 revolver, which they took to a boat dock and each fired once. They said when they returned to the home, Allen and Claxton were asleep. All four men were in the same room when Allen was shot, according to police accounts.

Lyle told deputies he was standing across the room when the gun accidentally fired and the bullet struck Allen, who was sleeping, in the chest, according to court records.

But evidence from the scene showed that Allen was shot from directly above, not from across the room. Investigators also discovered from witnesses that Lyle had threatened to kill Allen if he told anyone about the plot to burglarize the home and kill Claxton's father.

Allen survived the attack.

Lyle was booked into the Hamilton County Jail and was held on a $250,000 bond.

Contact staff writer Shelly Bradbury at 423-757-6525 or sbradbury@timesfreepress.com with tips or story ideas.

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