| Sources |
- [S24] The Newport Plain Talk, (http://www.newportplaintalk.com), 10 Nov 2003.
Clyde Junior Reed, age 47, of Newport, went to be with the Lord Monday, November 10, 2003. He was preceded in death by his mother, Ellie Reed, and father, John Reed.
He is survived by his wife, Lana Reed, of Newport; brothers, Ricky Reed, Billy Reed, and Elbert Reed; sisters, Johnnia Reed and Lisa Gregg; son, Jimmy Reed; two grandchildren, Jackie and Brittany Reed; step-mother, Letha Reed; several nieces and nephews; special friends, Ray Hicks and Janie Cain; and cousin, Mrs. Grant Parker.
Graveside service will be held 1:00 p.m. Thursday at New Home Cemetery with Rev. Fred Gregg officiating. Family will receive friends from 7:00 p.m. until 9:00 p.m. Wednesday at Manes Funeral Home.
In lieu of flowers, memorials may be made to The Clyde Reed Fund, c/o Manes Funeral Home, 363 East Main Street, Newport, TN 37821.
Manes Funeral Home in charge.
- [S24] The Newport Plain Talk, (http://www.newportplaintalk.com), 26 Jul 2005.
Life sentence to be followed by 40-year term in murder case
By: Gilbert Soesbee
Source: The Newport Plain Talk
07-26-2005
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NEWPORT-Having been sentenced in April to two life sentences without the possibility of parole, a Jefferson County man was given an additional 40 years in prison on Monday. Circuit Judge Ben W. Hooper II sentenced Billy Joe Carter, 36, of 3372 Blue Springs Road, Strawberry Plains, to the maximum term of 40 years in a state prison on his conviction for especially aggravated robbery in connection with the beating death of Cosby resident Clyde Reed Jr. in November 2003.
A Cocke County criminal court jury found the defendant guilty of premeditated first-degree murder, first-degree murder committed during the commission of another felony, and especially aggravated robbery on April 21. The jury sentenced Carter to life terms without the possibility of parole on the murder charges; Judge Hooper held a sentencing hearing on Monday concerning the robbery conviction.
Assistant District Public Defender Keith Haas asked for a minimum concurrent sentence for his client, saying the maximum term was "like kicking a man when he's down" and "rubbing salt in the wound" because Carter already has two life sentences. But Assistant District Attorney General Jimmy Dunn argued for the maximum term. "He earned this sentence," Dunn told the court. "He earned it when he committed this murder and robbery." Judge Hooper agreed with the prosecution, handing down the maximum term of 40 years in prison to be served consecutively with the defendant's two life sentences.
Reed, of 633 Sage Way, Cosby, was killed as a result of repeated blows to the head with a heavy metal torque wrench on his forty-seventh birthday: November 10, 2003.
The bludgeoning death occurred outside a residence off Old Sevierville Highway. The defendant contended during his two-day trial last April that he killed Reed in self-defense after Reed attacked him. The defendant said he took the wrench away from Reed and retaliated with a single blow to the head. But District Attorney General Al Schmutzer's medical witnesses during the trial testified that Reed died as a result of 22 separate blows to the head.
The killing occurred within 12 hours after Carter had been released from a state penitentiary where he had been serving a sentence for aggravated burglary. Carter-who had reportedly been drinking and using drugs with the victim the night before the early-morning killing-was arrested as he walked down the road near the scene of the incident. He had Reed's wallet, wristwatch, and other property in his possession at the time of the arrest. Carter told the jury that both he and Reed were intravenous drug users and were both "pretty messed up" on alcohol and liquid morphine on the night of the incident. He described the incident as "a drunk and doped-up fight.
"The defendant said he had known Reed for more than 15 years after meeting him in the Hamblen County Jail. He said he and Reed regularly made the rounds of Cocke County's taverns and bars and often used drugs together. Carter was released from state prison on November 9, 2003-about 12 hours before the killing-and he and Reed had met each other about 9 o'clock that night.
Testimony during the trial indicated that the pair rode around the county in Reed's red Ford Probe, drinking liquor and beer and popping pills. In addition to the alcohol, Carter said each man consumed at least three Valium tablets and two 10-milligram hydrocodone pills.
About three miles from the Walter Stuart residence off Old Sevierville Highway-which was the scene of the killing-Reed wrecked his car and it traveled off the road, damaging the front of the vehicle and breaking the battery cables. Unable to get the vehicle started, Carter and Reed walked into a nearby wooded area, according to Carter's testimony.
Reed and Carter eventually returned to the car and managed to connect the battery cables and start the car. They then drove to the Stuart residence. That was where a fight between the two men began.
"Clyde came to the side of the car and told me that it was my fault that we got out here and the car was wrecked," Carter testified. "Then he took the torque wrench and was trying to beat on the battery cables.
"First we got to fighting and we fought around the car. Then we fell down onto the rocks," Carter said. "I kicked him some, but I don't know where. Then we started back toward the car. I heard Clyde start cussing me again...then we went to wrestling around and I got the wrench from him and I hit him with it." The fight continued onto the pavement of Old Sevierville Highway, where the victim's body was eventually found.
Cocke County Sheriff's Deputy Kevin Benton testified that he met a man he identified as Carter walking along Old Sevierville Highway toward Highway 411. The man matched the broadcast description of the suspect in the killing. Benton testified that Carter was "covered in blood" and was wearing blue jeans and a black leather jacket.
The deputy first noticed that the defendant was carrying "a metal object and a bottle of liquor." He dropped both items after spotting the sheriff's department cruiser and continued walking a few feet after he was ordered to stop.
After handcuffing the suspect, Deputy Benton discovered that the metal object Carter had dropped was a heavy two-foot-long torque wrench, according to the testimony.
During a search of the defendant, the deputy recovered a Mag-Lite flashlight, two watches, two pocket knives, two hypodermic needles, a collection of cloth bandanas, a portable police scanner, a brown wallet, a toothpick holder, a box of toilet bowl freshener, keys to a Ford car, a comb, an empty box of Snuggle fabric softener with a telephone number written inside, and a paper with Reed's name written on it. Testimony during the trial indicated that the scanner was reported missing from the Stuart residence and one of the watches, one of the knives, the Mag-Lite flashlight, and the wallet were either owned by or linked to Reed.
The theft of that property was the evidence which led to the especially aggravated robbery charge for which Carter received the 40-year term on Monday.
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1956 - 2003 (47 years)