Officials have charged a Madison man this week with carjacking, brandishing a firearm during and in relation to a crime of violence, and being a convicted felon in possession of a firearm.
This, according to a press release from Donald Cochran, U.S. Attorney for the Middle District of Tennessee.
Officials charged Devan Javon Thompson, 31, of Madison, the press release went on to say.
“According to the complaint, on November 20, 2019, a woman and her 11 year-old child were shopping at Kroger on Old Hickory Boulevard in Hermitage, Tennessee when she became suspicious of a man, later identified as Thompson, following her in the store. Thompson subsequently approached the woman and asked her what kind of car she had,” according to Cochran’s press release.
“After refusing to tell him, Thompson displayed a handgun in the pocket of his hooded sweatshirt and demanded the keys to her vehicle. The child was holding the keys and gave them to Thompson. Thompson then held the gun to the child’s back and pushed him out of the store and into the parking lot. He demanded the woman start her car and drive over the median while he dragged the child through the parking lot. Thompson then entered the car and drove away.”
An off-duty Metropolitan Nashville Police officer, who was in the Kroger parking lot and witnessed the incident, followed Thompson and notified the police department. Thompson continued to flee and crashed the vehicle in a ravine near Lebanon Pike and Munn Road, where he was taken into custody after resisting and injuring an officer and a police K-9, the press release said.
If convicted, Thompson faces up to 15 years in prison on the carjacking offense; up to 10 years in prison on the gun possession charge; plus an additional mandatory minimum of seven years for brandishing the firearm. Assistant U.S. Attorney Rachel M. Stephens is prosecuting the case, according to the press release.
This is not the first time in recent months a convicted felon allegedly had a firearm.
As The Tennessee Star reported last year, Justin Jerome Jones pleaded guilty in November in U.S. District Court to three counts of being a convicted felon in possession of firearms.
The Star also reported that authorities sentenced a Nashville man, Kevin Mark Paul, in U.S. District Court to 15 years in prison for being a convicted felon in possession of a firearm.
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Chris Butler is an investigative journalist at The Tennessee Star. Follow Chris on Facebook. Email tips to [email protected].
