A Roan Mountain teen charged with murder now faces another charge after police say he attempted to coerce his co-defendant into changing his story.
Carter County Sheriff’s Department officers served a warrant on Anthony Lacy, 18, of Roan Mountain, charging him with coercion of a witness.
On July 4, Lacy and 20-year-old Demetrice Cordell, also of Roan Mountain, were arrested and charged with first-degree murder in the death of Danny Vance. The pair were charged also with several thefts and burglaries that occurred on July 3-4 throughout Roan Mountain.
After the arrest of the two men, investigators with the Carter County Sheriff’s Department said they had confessed to killing Vance.
The new charge against Lacy alleges he threatened Cordell over his testimony.
In his warrant on the new charge, CCSD Inv. Travis Ludlow said Corrections Officer Steven Tipton heard a conversation between Lacy and inmate Adam Hannan in which Lacy asked Hannan to relay a message and offered a bounty if Cordell was harmed.
Tipton quoted Lacy as saying “Tell (Cordell) if he doesn’t change his story he’s a dead man. I hate him. If you want a bounty it’s a hundred, but you’ve got to f— him up. As soon as I find it happens the money will be on your books. The motherf—– is snitchin’ and gonna take my life. When you f— him up, make sure you tell him it’s from me and there will be shanks waiting on him in prison.”
Based on the comments Tipton overheard, the threat was an attempt to get Cordell to change his story and give false testimony, Ludlow said.
Since his initial arrest, Lacy has picked up several new charges related to his conduct in the Carter County Detention Center, including an attempted murder charge after he allegedly assaulted and seriously injured a corrections officer.
Lacy appeared in General Sessions Court on Friday and was arraigned on the new charge. Judge Keith Bowers appointed attorney Patrick Denton to represent Lacy on the new charge and reset the case for June 9.