Judge sentences Timothy Lewis to five years, orders six months jail before probation in shooting that injured Kenneth Morris

A Chetam County judge sentenced Timothy Joseph Lewis to five years in the Tennessee Department of Correction for aggravated assault but suspended the balance after Lewis serves six months in the county jail, following a guilty plea and victim-impact testimony.

Before testimony, the judge disclosed a possible appearance-of-bias because the defendant is related by marriage to Sheriff Tim Binkley and the judge’s wife may have distant family ties to the victim’s family; the judge offered to recuse but all parties waived the recusal and asked the case to proceed. The court then heard a victim-impact statement from Carrie Batty, the granddaughter and caregiver of victim Kenneth Morris, who described permanent nerve damage, multiple falls requiring additional care and loss of independence since a summer 2024 shooting. Batty asked the court to consider the long-term physical and cognitive consequences when imposing sentence.

Lewis gave an allocution in which he described the encounter as defensive, said he fired warning shots and expressed remorse, saying the incident cost him his job and strained family relationships. The prosecution argued for enhancement factors, citing use of a firearm and the high risk of serious bodily injury to the victim; the defense urged mitigating factors including Lewis’s age (67), limited recent criminal history and remorse.

Applying Tennessee sentencing criteria and weighing enhancement and mitigating factors, the court found several enhancement factors applicable—most importantly the defendant’s use of a firearm and the high risk to human life when multiple shots were fired—and found limited mitigating circumstances. The judge imposed a five-year sentence, ordered Lewis to serve six months in local continuous confinement with credit for any time already served, and then placed him on probation for the balance of the sentence. The court also ordered no contact between Lewis and the victim or the victim’s family and authorized serving the short confinement period outside Chin County Jail if necessary. Lewis was given until 5:00 p.m. the day of sentencing to report for the confinement; the court confirmed credit for time already served would apply.

The judge read statutory sentencing considerations on the record and explained the choice of a short confinement term followed by probation as balancing the seriousness of the injury to Morris with considerations such as Lewis’s long period without recent serious criminal conduct. The court clerk admitted a presentence report into evidence and acknowledged that the record reflects competing accounts about what occurred; because Lewis pleaded guilty, the court did not resolve those factual disputes in a trial.

The sentence concludes the case in the trial court; the judgment will be reflected in the criminal records, and probation and confinement units were directed to carry out the court's orders.