Suspect identified in fatal Highway 111 crash

The suspect in a fatal crash last month along Highway 111 in Soddy-Daisy appeared in court Tuesday afternoon, just moments after turning himself in, his attorneys said.

Justin Whaley, 37, is accused of driving the wrong way in the early-morning hours of July 3, colliding head-on with a vehicle and killing James Brumlow, 36.

Hamilton County District Attorney General Neal Pinkston opposed the hearing in court, saying, “It appears this defendant is receiving special treatment.”

But Lee Davis, one of Whaley’s defense attorneys, said “there was no special treatment” for his client. “He was treated fairly, as all men and women should be treated, when faced with an accusation made by the government.”

Davis said that on Monday night, after the courts closed, Soddy-Daisy police approached a Sessions Court judge and obtained a bond of $600,000 against Whaley, “a man with no criminal record.”

Early that same night, Pinkston told Whaley’s other attorney, Gary Gerbitz, that his client needed to immediately turn himself in for booking, a spokeswoman for the district attorney’s office said. But that didn’t happen.

Then Tuesday morning, Gerbitz and Davis approached General Sessions Judge Gary Starnes to request a bond reduction. Starnes refused.

The two then asked Judge Barry Steelman, who agreed to a 3 p.m. hearing, but on the condition that Whaley turn himself in, according to the district attorney’s office.

“It is appropriate for lawyers to seek reasonable bond on warrants,” Davis said. “… A bond is not punishment. It is to be set so that a court is assured that the person will come to court and to safeguard the public. We asked Judge Barry Steelman to review the bond and set a reasonable bond with appropriate conditions of release. That is what happened today.”

Davis said Whaley did turn himself in on Tuesday, though no jail booking records or court records could be found online as of Tuesday night.

It was not immediately clear why Whaley would be granted a bond reduction possibly before being arrested and booked — since his arrest couldn’t be verified Tuesday night — and before any court records had been filed.

Soddy-Daisy police Capt. Jeff Gann, whose agency investigated the incident and would have conducted the arrest, did not return multiple requests for comment via phone call and text message Tuesday afternoon.

Steelman reduced Whaley’s bond to $50,000 from $600,000. He is to surrender his driver’s license and will be subject to GPS and alcohol monitoring.

Emergency dispatchers got a call from Whaley at about 5:40 a.m. on July 3, according to a narrative of the incident. Whaley told dispatchers he had just been in a head-on collision with another vehicle, but he wasn’t sure how he himself was driving in the wrong direction.

Whaley told police he had been drinking with a friend the night before, but he’d intentionally stayed at his friend’s house to sober up.

Investigators determined Whaley was in the lane closest to a wall and then crossed over toward the shoulder and hit Brumlow, who was traveling in the correct direction.

Brumlow’s vehicle was found on its side.

A warrant was issued to collect a blood sample from Whaley for a blood-alcohol test.

“Justin Whaley has been cooperating in this investigation since this tragic accident occurred on July 3, 2018,” Davis said. “He [called] 911, remained at the scene, and spent hours with police at the scene of the accident. He was not charged with a crime on July 3 or at any time during the past two months.”

But now that the blood-alcohol test results have come in, Whaley faces a slew of charges, including vehicular homicide, driving under the influence and reckless driving.

Whaley became a volunteer reserve deputy for the Hamilton County Sheriff’s Office in March 2016, a sheriff’s office spokesman confirmed. He was not a full-time, paid deputy.

He resigned in October 2017 after not being able to fulfill the number of required volunteer hours.

Whaley, owner of Dead Zero Shooting Park, is a former U.S. Marine infantry rifleman and a former paramedic, according to the shooting park’s website.