Sumner County, Tenn., Sheriff’s Office
A Hendersonville, Tenn., father accused of shooting and killing his 11-year-old daughter is out on bond, WZTV reports.
According to the report, Sumner County Jail officials confirmed Friday that Timothy Batts was no longer in their system. Batts, who is facing charges, including reckless homicide, in the death of his daughter Timea Batts, had his bond reduced from $1 million to $500,000 earlier that day.
The 29-year-old father originally told investigators that his daughter was shot after getting off a school bus before walking home to tell him that she had been shot.
However, police later found evidence that the shooting happened inside the family's home. According to WZTV, Batts recanted his story before admitting to authorities that he was sleeping when he heard a noise in the house and grabbed his gun from under his dresser. Batts said his daughter startled him, leading him to fire off the fatal shot, WZTV reports.
But on Friday, a Sumner County detective said there was video evidence that Batts was, in fact, awake and walking around with a gun and phone just before Timea came home from school and was fatally wounded, WZTV reports.
In another report, WZTV noted that on Saturday, Batts appeared on a Facebook Live video after his release, saying, "I just want to say 'Thank you' to everybody. Thank you to everybody. Thank you for the love and support. I appreciate everybody."
Batts' neighbor Jerrie Lockridge told the station: “He was used to seeing her get off that bus at 4 p.m. It was her first day of school. He didn't realize she was going to get home at 2:45 p.m. We know he did not mean to shoot Timea …. We know that this right here was just the worst, tragic accident that could possibly happen to a family, especially a father."
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