Katie Quackenbush indicted on charges including attempted murder in homeless man's attack

NASHVILLE — A Nashville woman accused of shooting a homeless man on a Midtown sidewalk last year has been indicted on felony charges including attempted first-degree murder in the case.

Katie Quackenbush, 27, was also indicted on a charge of aggravated assault with a deadly weapon in the Aug. 26, attack on Gerald Melton near Music Row. The Davidson County grand jury returned its two-count indictment Friday, court records show.

Metro police say Quackenbush shot Melton near 901 19th Ave. South after a heated verbal argument about the exhaust fumes and loud music coming from her Porsche SUV. Detectives say that Melton had been trying to sleep on the sidewalk about 3 a.m. when he became disturbed.

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Melton asked Quackenbush, the driver of the Porsche, to move the vehicle, police said. The two then began yelling at each other.

Police say that after Melton walked back to where he had been trying to sleep, Quackenbush got out of her vehicle with a gun and the argument continued. She fired two shots at Melton, who was wounded in the abdomen, according to police.

Melton reported that the shooter got back into the Porsche and left the scene.

During a preliminary hearing in early December, testimony revealed Quackenbush asked the man if he wanted "to die tonight" before opening fire.

Although prosecutors and Quackenbush's defense attorney Peter Strianse seemed to agree on the broad strokes of the narrative during the December hearing, Strianse suggested Quackenbush was acting in self defense.

With the indictment, Quackenbush's case moves to Nashville's criminal court system.

Reach Natalie Neysa Alund at nalund@tennessean.com and follow her on Twitter @nataliealund.