A suspect in the fatal shooting of a man on Crossville’s Main Street late last summer was arrested and had bond revoked after the Cumberland County Grand Jury raised the charge to first-degree murder.
Eric Brandon Garrison, 43, Pima Road, Lake Tansi, was taken into custody without incident around 7 p.m. Wednesday and served a new indictment charging first-degree murder.
Previous to the new indictment, Garrison was in bound-over status on a second-degree murder charge heard in General Sessions Court.
The grand jury met Tuesday and returned the true bill.
That same day, Criminal Court Judge Gary McKenzie issued an order that reads: “Based on the Cumberland County Grand Jury returning an indictment on said defendant (Garrison) for the more severe charge of first-degree murder, the bond set by special General Sessions Judge Jimmy White is hereby revoked. This court set a new bond in the amount of $1,500,000.”
Garrison is accused in the Aug. 22, 2025, fatal shooting of Albert Sturgill Jr., 62, who was protesting in the area of the Military Memorial Park across from the Cumberland County Courthouse.
During testimony in a preliminary hearing, a self-defense theory was forwarded.
Garrison’s wife testified Sturgill struck her husband in the head as they confronted each other on the sidewalk.
As Sturgill retreated out onto Main Street, witnesses said Garrison walked to his vehicle, got a handgun and walked onto Main Street and shot Sturgill.
Garrison was charged with second-degree murder and Judge White set bond at $100,000.
In a press release Thursday morning, District Attorney Bryant Dunaway wrote an arrest warrant charging second-degree murder was issued, “based on information known to investigators at the time.”
The release continued, “The results of the complete investigation were presented to the Cumberland County Grand Jury on Tuesday, April 7, After hearing testimony from the lead investigator, the Grand Jury issued a true bill indictment charging … first-degree murder.”
The indictment is accompanied by a page of 41 witnesses or potential witnesses with Tennessee Bureau of Investigation Special Agent signing the indictment.
Witnesses are citizens and officers with investigators of the TBI, officers with the Crossville Police Department and Cumberland County Sheriff’s Office, Tennessee Highway Patrol’s Criminal Investigation Division and Crossville Fire Department.
Arraignment on the new charge is set for May 12.
It should be noted, a grand jury is a panel of qualified, randomly selected citizens who review evidence and verifies that those presenting cases had probable cause to believe that a Criminal has been committed.
It is not evidence and the defendant is presumed innocent until proven guilty beyond a reasonable dough and convicted through due process of the law.