DICKSON, Tenn. (AP) — The Latest on charges against Tennessee man charged with fatally shooting a sheriff’s deputy (all times local):
11:30 a.m.
A Tennessee man charged with killing a sheriff’s deputy is now facing federal charges in addition to his state murder case.
Attorney General Jeff Sessions said in a joint announcement with U.S. Attorney Donald Cochran on Friday that “At the Department of Justice, we back the women and men in blue.”
The federal charges against Steven Joshua Wiggins include carjacking resulting in Dickson County sheriff’s Sgt. Daniel Baker’s death; using, carrying and shooting a gun while committing a violent crime; having that violent crime result in another person’s death; and being a convicted felon with a gun.
Federal prosecutors say Wiggins fired 10 times, wounding Baker with six bullets, after the deputy realized that the suspect’s vehicle had been stolen.
They say Wiggins then placed Baker’s body in his patrol car drove it for miles into a rural area where he set it on fire.
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10:40 a.m.
A Tennessee man charged with killing a sheriff’s deputy is also accused of trying to impersonate him and burning his body and vehicle.
A judge read off 12 counts against Steven Joshua Wiggins during his arraignment Friday in the death of Dickson County sheriff’s Sgt. Daniel Baker. His alleged accomplice, Erika Castro-Miles, also was arraigned, also on a charge of first-degree murder.
The judge entered not-guilty pleas on their behalf and appointed public defenders for both.
Baker was killed last week after responding to a call about a suspicious car. Dickson County Sheriff Jeff Bledsoe said things escalated when the deputy discovered the vehicle was stolen. Authorities believe Castro-Miles was in the car when Wiggins shot the deputy, and that Wiggins later drove Baker’s cruiser into the woods.
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