On April 20, 2020 at approximately 4:50 AM, Kingsport Police Patrol Officers responded to the Zoomerz gas station and convenience store, located at 1673 Fort Henry Drive in Kingsport, in reference to a shooting incident. Upon arrival, responding officers located an adult male, later identified as Christopher Todd Lane, lying in the parking lot, deceased from what appeared to be gunshot wounds.
Detectives from the K.P.D. Criminal Investigations Division were called to the scene. Brandon J. Castle was developed as a person of interest early in the investigation. Detectives received reliable information to indicate that Mr. Castle would be involved in unlawful drug trafficking in the parking lot of the Rub-A-Dub car wash, located at 904 Bloomingdale Pike in Kingsport.
On April 21, 2020 at approximately 3:30 AM, with invaluable assistance from the K.P.D. Vice and Narcotics Unit, K.P.D. S.W.A.T. Team, and K.P.D. K-9 Unit, Mr. Castle was located and arrested at the aforementioned car wash in the act of attempting to sell illicit drugs, including methamphetamine and Alprazolam, to undercover officers.
He was initially booked into the Kingsport City Jail on the charges of 1) Possession of ½ Gram of a Schedule II Drug (Methamphetamine) for Sale or Delivery, 2) Possession of a Schedule IV Drug (Alprazolam) for Sale or Delivery, 3) Simple Possession/Casual Exchange of a Schedule VI Drug (Marijuana), and 4) Possession of Unlawful Drug Paraphernalia.
Over the course of the investigation, Detectives established sufficient probable cause to determine that Mr. Castle had shot and killed Mr. Lane. On April 22, 2020 the facts of the case were presented to a Sullivan County Grand Jury, which returned a true bill of indictment, charging Mr. Castle with 1) Second Degree Murder, 2) Possession of a Firearm During the Commission of a Dangerous Felony, and 3) Tampering with Evidence.
Mr. Castle was served with the capias on these new charges while already incarcerated on the earlier drug charges. As of the time of issuance of this news release, he remains confined in the Sullivan County Jail in Blountville awaiting arraignment.
The decedent in this case has been sent to the Quillen College of Medicine in Johnson City for autopsy. This remains an active investigation by the K.P.D. Criminal Investigations Division. To protect the integrity of that investigation and not hinder future prosecution, absolutely no further details, to include the motive, will be publicly discussed at this time.
As previously released:
On April 20, 2020 at approximately 4:50 AM, Kingsport Police Patrol Officers responded to the Zoomerz gas station and convenience store, located at 1673 Fort Henry Drive in Kingsport, in reference to a shooting incident. Upon arrival, responding officers located an adult male lying in the parking lot, deceased from what appeared to be gunshot wounds.
Detectives from the K.P.D. Criminal Investigations Division were called to the scene. Their investigation is currently underway; however, no additional details are available for release at this time. More information will be shared as it develops, but only at an appropriate point in the investigation. |