KNOXVILLE, Tenn. — A judge has ordered a second preliminary hearing for Kenneth DeHart, the man accused of fatally shooting a Blount County Sheriff’s deputy and injuring another in February 2024.
The decision came Wednesday following a motion hearing that extended most of Tuesday, during which DeHart’s defense argued that he was denied the opportunity to retain his preferred legal counsel at the initial preliminary hearing, which took place just days after his arrest.
In a written order, Judge Tammy Harrington criticized the previous judge’s denial of DeHart’s request for a continuance as “arbitrary and unreasonable.” She emphasized the necessity of ensuring that defendants are treated fairly throughout the criminal justice process.
“The motion to remand must be viewed in light of well-settled law, which does not allow the public and/or the state to pick and choose which defendants and which crimes are afforded the same constitutional protections,” Judge Harrington wrote. “This Court has a duty, at a minimum, to ensure those rights are applied equally.”
Harrington further explained that, in cases involving life-or-death consequences, due process protections must be heightened and additional safeguards implemented.
DeHart faces multiple charges, including first-degree murder, attempted first-degree murder, and felon in possession of a weapon, in connection with a February 8 shooting on Sevierville Road. The shooting resulted in the death of Blount County Sheriff’s Deputy Greg McCowan and left Deputy Shelby Eggers injured.
After spending nearly five days as a fugitive, DeHart was apprehended at a Knoxville residence on February 13. He was arraigned two days later.
Although courts were closed on February 14 in honor of Deputy McCowan, the District Attorney General, public defender, and General Sessions Judge convened off the record, during which the DA noted DeHart’s intent to hire private counsel.
DeHart was formally arraigned on February 20 and his case was bound over to the Grand Jury five days after his arrest. He was indicted in April on 21 charges. The state has since indicated it will seek the death penalty as well as life imprisonment without the possibility of parole.
The trial is currently scheduled for April 13, 2026.
