Detective: Surveillance video shows dad walking around with gun before daughter shot
HENDERSONVILLE, Tenn. (WKRN) – In a shocking update, detectives revealed in court Friday that a home surveillance video shows that a 29-year-old father accused of killing his daughter was awake and holding a gun moments before the shooting.
During a bond hearing Friday morning in Sumner County, a detective testified that Timothy Batts story was “inconsistent.”
According to the detective, Batts’ own home security camera showed him awake and walking around with a gun in his hand just a few minutes before 11-year-old Timea arrived home from school.
Batts is charged with reckless homicide, tampering with evidence, false reporting and felony firearm possession.
He initially told police his daughter woke him up and said she had been shot after getting off the school bus at their home on Shady View Drive.
He reportedly drove his daughter to TriStar Hendersonville Medical Center before she was flown to Vanderbilt University Medical Center in Nashville.
Timea, a sixth grader at Knox Doss Middle School, died less than two hours later.
Batts later told officers he accidentally shot his daughter when she woke him up inside their home.
The judge ruled Friday morning that Batts’ $1 million bond was too high and lowered it to $500,000.
Friends and family inside the courtroom cheered after the decision was made.
Prior to the bond hearing, more than 11,000 people had signed a change.org petitionthat called for a lower bond and for Batts to be allowed to attend his daughter’s funeral.MORE: ‘He’s locked up and she’s gone”: Friends mourn loss of Hendersonville girl
“He corrected his past, going toward his future. It’s a tragic situation, and he needs prayer. Where he is right now, he needs prayer. I pray for him, for his family,” Pastor Kenny Smith previously told News 2.
