A trial date has been set for a teenager charged with the July 2014 death of 56-year-old Danny Ray Vance as part of what police originally described as a “crime spree” in Roan Mountain.
Anthony Lace, 19, of Roan Mountain, will stand trial March 20 through March 31. He faces charges of first-degree premeditated murder, first-degree felony murder, especially aggravated robbery, aggravated burglary, three counts of theft of property over $1,000, one count of theft of property over $500, three counts theft of property under $500, three counts of auto burglary and evading arrest. The state has filed notice of its intent to seek the death penalty against Lacy in the case.
Lacy’s co-defendant in the case, 21-year-old Demetrice Cordell, also of Roan Mountain, will stand trial at a later date. Cordell faces charges of first-degree premeditated murder, first-degree felony murder, aggravated burglary, three counts of theft of property over $1,000, one count of theft of property over $500, three counts theft of property under $500, three counts of auto burglary and evading arrest. The state has not announced any intention of seeking the death penalty against Cordell.
Both Lacy and Cordell appeared in Carter County Criminal Court on Wednesday for a status update on the murder case.
Lacy had been scheduled to stand trial this week on an unrelated case where he is charged with attempted first degree murder and aggravated assault for allegedly attacking a corrections officer at the Carter County Detention Center with a mop handle. That trial has been delayed until October after Judge Stacy Street granted a request by Lacy’s attorney in that case for a mental health evaluation on his client.
Because the attempted murder case involving the corrections officer is part of the state’s argument in seeking the death penalty against Lacy, the murder trial was also subsequently delayed.
Lacy was originally scheduled to stand trial for Vance’s murder this October. Now those trial dates are set aside to try Lacy in the attempted murder case as well as other pending charges against him.
On Wednesday, Street set the date for the capital case against Lacy for March 20-31.
“You are not the forgotten party in this case Mr. Cordell,” Street to said to Cordell in court on Wednesday. “Your case is tracking Mr. Lacy’s case, as I understand it from the state and from your counsel.”
Street said after the Lacy matter was resolved Cordell’s case would be set for trial.
While both Cordell and Lacy were incarcerated in the Carter County Detention Center, Lacy allegedly attempted to bribe another inmate to harm Cordell if his co-defendant did not “change his story” regarding the murder case.
Cordell was transferred to the Washington County Detention Center for safekeeping.
Following a string of what Street described in a court order as “behavioral issues,” Lacy was transferred to the custody of the Tennessee Department of Corrections for safekeeping. In his order directing the Carter County Sheriff’s Office to transfer Lacy, Street said Lacy’s “risk to others’ safety is such that he should be transported as soon as is reasonably possible.”
The charges against Lacy and Cordell in the murder case stem from what police called a “crime spree” through the Roan Mountain Community on July 3 and 4, 2014, during which the pair allegedly killed Vance.
During a preliminary hearing in General Sessions Court, Tennessee Bureau of Investigation Agent Brian Fraley testified that both men had confessed to the crime spree after their arrest.
Cordell said he and Lacy went to Vance’s home to rob it because Lacy knew Vance and knew he had guns at his home, Fraley said, adding that both men told officers that Vance came out with a handgun and that is when Lacy struck Vance in the head with a rock.
During their interviews, Fraley said Cordell and Lacy provided information about the thefts and burglaries they ultimately were charged with.