A Coalmont, Tennessee, man faces arraignment Dec. 10 on charges in Grundy County of second-degree murder in the February shooting death of 39-year-old Bradford Orion Meeks.
Meeks was found dead Feb. 10 after an argument at a home on Lockhart Town Road in Coalmont, according to authorities. The Tennessee Bureau of Investigation was requested by the 12th Judicial District Attorney's Office to probe the shooting.
Meeks was shot during the altercation and pronounced dead at a regional hospital, TBI officials said. During the course of the investigation, the TBI developed information that identified 64-year-old George David Byers Jr., described as an acquaintance of the victim, as the person responsible for Meeks' death, according to a statement from the state agency.
A Grundy County grand jury issued an indictment Nov. 12 charging George David Byers Jr. with one count of second-degree murder, and he was taken into custody Nov. 14, the TBI said. Second-degree murder is a class A felony.
Grundy County Sheriff Clint Shrum, who was out of town on Wednesday and declined to comment on the arrest, said early in the investigation that Byers was the father of Meeks' then-girlfriend, Brandy Shrum. Meeks and the woman had an argument earlier on the evening of the shooting.
Sheriff Shrum said Wednesday that he is not related to Brandy Shrum.
Meeks allegedly left the home but later returned and another argument ensued after Brandy Shrum's father, Byers, arrived. The dispute escalated and Meeks was shot dead, the sheriff said in February. Lockhart Town Road runs about three miles through a sparsely populated area between Coalmont and Tracy City to the south in southern Grundy County.
Byers is being held on a $75,000 bond and faces arraignment Dec. 10. Officials in the Grundy County Circuit Court Clerk's Office said Byers does not have an attorney on record. The status of his legal representation will be addressed at the Dec. 10 hearing, officials said.
Contact Ben Benton at bbenton@timesfreepress.com or 423-757-6569. Follow him on Twitter @BenBenton or at www.facebook.com/benbenton1.