The final chapter in a September 2006 shooting may have been written with one man having recently been sentenced and charges against two others dropped.
26 year old Garth Cantrell, who was indicted in April on a charge of attempted first degree murder in the shooting of 22 year old Joseph Givens last September on White Street in Smithville entered a plea by information on September 27th to a charge of aggravated assault and received a four year sentence. He also entered a plea to a charge of possession of cocaine, in a separate case, and received another four year sentence. Both sentences are running consecutively for a total of eight years. He must pay a $2,000 fine in the drug case.
After the shooting, Cantrell sought criminal charges against Givens and another man, Raymond L. Knox, Jr. claiming they beat him up prior to the shooting. Givens and Knox were indicted in August by the DeKalb County Grand Jury on an assault charge, but Criminal Court Judge David Patterson dismissed the charges against them upon request of the District Attorney General on October 26th.
On the night of the shooting, Cantrell was allegedly pulled from an automobile and assaulted by Givens and Knox. After the attack, Cantrell left, but apparently returned later with a rifle and allegedly shot Givens, causing serious bodily injury.
Givens was taken to Vanderbilt Hospital and was later released.
While free on bond, Cantrell was arrested again in May on the drug charge during a graduation night road block.
Cantrell was given credit for the 332 days he spent in jail waiting disposition of the case and is now incarcerated in the Tennessee Department of Corrections at the Brushy Mountain Correctional Complex. Cantrell will be eligible for parole on January 8th, 2008. His sentence is scheduled to end on July 30th, 2014.
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