Plea deals were reached during a dramatic hearing in Todd Circuit Court Friday afternoon for four of the five suspects charged in the September, 2018 shooting death of Jerry Robertson on Stateline Road near Allensville.
Douglas Cropper had his complicity to murder charge amended down to first-degree wanton endangerment. He also pled guilty to possession of a handgun by a convicted felon.
His deal comes with a probated five year sentence.
Cropper admitted to giving Daniel Westbrook the gun he allegedly used to shoot and kill Robertson, but said he never set out to kill anyone that day and claimed Robertson fired a gun first during the altercation.
Brandi Scruggs also had her complicity to murder charge amended down to first-degree wanton endangerment and her five-year sentence was probated—as recommended by the Commonwealth.
She admitted to driving Robertson on the day in question and to pulling the car over so that her codefendants in a pickup following her could confront Robertson about Facebook posts they all wanted deleted. She also claimed Robertson pulled a gun from his clothes and fired the first shots.
Timmie Latham pleaded guilty to first-degree wanton endangerment and will be on probation for five years for that charge. He will remain in the Simpson County Jail for now, serving time on an unrelated matter. He claimed he was under the impression on the day of the crime that his truck was being used to pick up a bike in Logan County before learning of the Facebook posts. He then agreed to follow the car driven by Scruggs, claiming he had heard of alleged abuse by Robertson against Scruggs in the past and feared she could be assaulted.
He testified they didn’t know Scruggs was going to pull over at the location of the shooting.
Faith Martin pleaded guilty to tampering with evidence and received a five-year pre-trial diversion as part of her deal. Her complicity to murder charge was dismissed.
She echoed Latham’s story and said she and Latham co-owned the pickup they were riding. Martin admitted to hiding the pickup with a with a bullet hole in the windshield after the incident.
A November 18 trial date for Westbrook was canceled and a new pre-trial date was scheduled for November 20. Attorney Nate Beard said Commonwealth’s Attorney Neil Kerr had extended another offer to resolve the case.
A request to further reduce Westbrook’s bond was denied by Judge Jill Clark, with Kerr noting Westbrook has a new misdemeanor assault charge pending after a recent jailhouse fight.
Kerr explained his reasons for offering plea deals. He says that while all of the details will never be known for certain and while the defendants created a recipe for disaster with their actions, he doesn’t believe he has sufficient evidence to prove anyone set out to murder Robertson.
He also noted Scruggs had previously requested an emergency protective order against Robertson, but that it was dismissed when she failed to appear in court. She agreed to meet and drive Robertson after the court date.
The most emotional testimony came from the mother of Robertson, who called Scruggs “evil” and asked why the suspects would not call 911 and why they attempted to hide their pickup if it was all self-defense.
She said justice was not served in court Friday and hoped it would be when it came time for Westbrook to be sentenced. She concluded her testimony by walking out the rear door of the courtroom, saying “You are murderers! You are murderers!”
Full statement from Douglas Cropper:
Full statement from Brandi Scruggs:
Full statement from Timmie Latham:
Full statement from Faith Martin:
Commonwealth’s Attorney Neil Kerr explains reasons for plea agreements:
Full impact statement from mother of Jerry Robertson: