In the early morning hours of Saturday, December 13, 2014, the life of 19-year-old Evan Scott Hall of Knoxville, Tennessee, was tragically cut short. A 2013 graduate of Hardin Valley Academy where he had been a member of the football team, Evan was remembered as an avid sportsman who loved the outdoors and was loved by all who knew him.
The events that led to his death began after Hall attended a workplace Christmas party.
Authorities stated that he became highly intoxicated and, after leaving the party, was involved in a hit-and-run car accident. He then drove into his own West Knox County neighborhood, causing property damage by driving his pickup truck through several yards before crashing into a row of trees. The commotion awoke his neighbor and friend, 19-year-old Jack Bush, who recognized Hall's truck.
Ignoring his mother's pleas to put down the handgun he had armed himself with, Bush went outside to confront Hall. The two exchanged words in the street, and as Hall advanced towards him, Bush fired three shots, striking him in the upper torso and head. Evan Hall died at the scene.
A few days after the shooting, Jack Bush turned himself in to the authorities. He was initially charged with voluntary manslaughter. The subsequent legal case hinged on Tennessee's 'stand-your-ground' law and whether Bush had acted in self-defense. The first trial in October 2016 ended in a hung jury, with the jury unable to reach a verdict. In November 2018, Jack Bush pleaded guilty to the lesser charge of criminally negligent homicide, a Class E felony. As a result of the plea agreement, he was sentenced to one year of probation. In addition to the criminal case, Hall's parents filed a $7.5 million wrongful death lawsuit against Bush, his parents who owned the gun, and the sports grille that allegedly served Hall alcohol despite him being underage.
