A Roan Mountain teen already facing a murder charge soon may face an attempted murder charge as the Carter County Sheriff’s Department announced its intent to seek an indictment against the teen in connection with an incident in which he is alleged to have attacked an officer inside the jail.
On Friday, the Carter County Sheriff’s Department announced it will ask a Carter County grand jury to indict 18-year-old Anthony Joseph Lacy on a charge of attempted first-degree murder in connection with an Oct. 23 incident in which Lacy allegedly assaulted a corrections officer.
A court order issued Oct. 29 said Lacy attacked a corrections officer, striking him repeatedly in the head and body with a broom handle. According to the Sheriff’s Department, the incident occurred as the officer was escorting Lacy to his cell.
The corrections officer, whose identity has not been released, was treated for severe injuries at a local hospital, CCSD Sgt. Mike Carlock said. “The officer has not returned to work at this time due to some ongoing medical issues related to the assault,” Carlock said.
Additional details of the assault, such as the nature and severity of the officer’s injuries, are not being released at this time, Carlock said. That information will be presented to the grand jury, he said, and may be released later.
Lacy was being housed in the Carter County Detention Center’s disciplinary lockdown block at the time of the alleged attack on the officer due to Lacy’s alleged involvement in a prior altercation in the jail with another inmate.
The assault on the officer, along with a string of other incidents, led the District Attorney’s office to request that Lacy be transferred to another facility for safe keeping. Criminal Court Judge Stacy Street approved the request, issuing a court order directing that Lacy be transferred to the Tennessee Department of Corrections. In the order, Street cites allegations of “behavioral issues” demonstrated by Lacy during his incarceration and said Lacy’s “risk to others’ safety is such that he should be transported as soon as is reasonably possible.”
Prior to his transfer to state custody, Lacy had been housed at the Carter County Detention Center since his arrest July 4 in connection with a crime spree in Roan Mountain. Lacy and Demetrice Dontrial Cordell, 19, were charged with first-degree murder in the death of 56-year-old Danny Vance at his home in Roan Mountain. Each was also charged with especially aggravated robbery, evading arrest, three counts of burglary and seven counts of theft of property.
At an appearance in General Sessions Court in October, Lacy and Cordell were bound over to a grand jury for the charges related to Vance’s death as well as the robbery, theft and burglary charges.
The grand jury is scheduled to convene Nov. 17.