The man police allege is responsible for killing one and injuring five in an Easter Sunday shooting in Nashville was a convicted felon out on bond for felony charges in Rutherford County.
Rutherford County District Attorney Jennings H. Jones said the suspect, 46-year-old Anton Rucker, should not have been released on bond.
Rucker, who was arrested Tuesday in Kentucky by the Metro Nashville Police Department, was out on a combined $50,000 bond, according to court records. He has been charged with aggravated assault, illegal possession of a weapon, and three felony drug charges in Rutherford County.
The Tennessee Star asked Jones (pictured above) via email why Rucker was allowed bond despite being convicted of multiple felonies. According to Davidson County court records, Rucker has been found guilty of possession of cocaine with intent to sell, deliver, or manufacture, of evidence tampering, of evading arrest, and of intentional aggravated assault with a deadly weapon.
The Star also asked why the bond amount was set so low.
“Those are very good questions,” said Jones, the district attorney general for the 16th Judicial District, which serves Cannon and Rutherford Counties. “I would like to know the answer as well.”
The attorneys responsible for Rucker’s case have since requested his bond be revoked, WSMV4 reported.
Jones told The Star that “it would have been my druthers that he be denied bond or that the bond be set very high.” He pointed to the judge overseeing Rucker’s cases as the party responsible for setting Rucker’s comparatively low bond, considering his background.
Judge Lisa Eischeid is the Rutherford County general sessions judge responsible for Rucker’s cases involving his aggravated assault and illegal weapon possession charges, according to court records.
Eischeid was elected as a general sessions judge in 2016 and ran unopposed for re-election in 2022. She presides over misdemeanor and felony cases and also presides over the DUI recovery court.
For Rucker’s alleged involvement in the Easter Sunday shooting, he is accused of killing Allen Beachem, 33. The shooting occurred at Roasted, a restaurant in the Nashville neighborhood of Salemtown.
Rucker is currently being held at Caldwell County Jail in Kentucky.
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Matthew Giffin is a reporter at The Tennessee Star and The Star News Network. Follow Matthew on X/Twitter.
Photo “Jennings Jones” by Jennings Jones for District Attorney.
This is a the classic example of the failures in our current judicial system. Is Judge Eischeid a democrat? If not, were you afraid of being branded a racist if you set a higher bond?
It is a fact that is statistically proven that black males are committing a disproportional amount of violent crimes. But the biden administration has made it almost impossible to punish black offenders without being accused of racism.
https://www.thegatewaypundit.com/2024/02/sharika-soal-white-supremacy-isnt-americas-biggest-threat/