A statewide Blue Alert has been issued for a 42-year-old man suspected of shooting two Blount County sheriff’s deputies Thursday night, killing one. And in the hours since, about $80,000 in reward money has been offered for information leading to his arrest.
Kenneth Wayne DeHart, of Alcoa, is wanted by the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation and the Blount County Sheriff’s Office on charges of one count of first degree murder, one count of attempted first degree murder and one count of felon in possession of a weapon.
During a Friday evening press conference, officials announced that DeHart’s brother had been arrested as an accessory after the fact and was being held on a $1 million bond, with a court appearance scheduled for Feb. 12. Police were still searching for Kenneth DeHart at that point.
Just before 8:30 p.m. Feb. 8, Deputy Greg McCowan and Deputy Shelby Eggers initiated a traffic stop on an SUV in the 4900 block of Sevierville Road in Maryville, a release from TBI said. The driver, identified as DeHart, would not cooperate and refused to get out of the vehicle. A Taser was deployed with no effect, the release said.