Season Comes to a Close for DCHS Lady Tigers

February 15, 2023
By: Dwayne Page

Third times a charm?

Not so for the DeKalb County Lady Tigers as they were defeated on the evening of Valentine’s Day by the White County Warriorettes 87 to 62 at Sparta and thus eliminated from the District Basketball Tournament ending the season for them and first year coach Brandy Alley at 14-15.

It was the third meeting of the season between the teams and the third loss for the Lady Tigers. White County won in Smithville 92 to 44 on December 13 and at Sparta 72 to 51 on January 24.

The Warriorettes (22-9) advance to the semi-finals of the tournament to play the top seed Livingston Academy (23-5) on Saturday at Tennessee Tech in Cookeville at 8:30 p.m.

In the game Tuesday night, DeKalb County trailed 24 to 19 after the 1st period, 47 to 30 at halftime, and 61 to 49 after the 3rd period before losing the game 87 to 62.

Ella VanVranken scored 25, Avery Agee 11, Chloe VanVranken 9, Cam Branin 6, Madison Martin 5, Ella Hendrixson 4, and Darrah Ramsey 2.

In other district tournament games Tuesday night, the Cumberland County girls eliminated Stone Memorial 45 to 34 while the Upperman girls defeated Macon County 67 to 44. On Saturday, Cumberland County will meet Upperman in the district tournament semi-finals at Tennessee Tech at 7 p.m.

The Tigers will play their first game of the tournament on Thursday night, February 16 starting at 6 p.m. also at Sparta facing the White County Warriors. WJLE will have LIVE coverage. Like the girls, DC is the 5th place team and White County 4th. The winner will meet Stone Memorial, the #1 seed, on Saturday, February 18 at 4:30 p.m. at Stone Memorial.

Meanwhile the Upperman Bees (3rd seed) will face Cumberland County (6th seed) on Thursday in Baxter at 6 p.m. while Livingston Academy (2nd seed) will meet Macon County (7th seed) at Livingston on Thursday at 7 p.m. The winners will square off in the semi-finals at 3 p.m. on Saturday at Stone Memorial.

February 14, 2023
By: Dwayne Page

A little more than a year after he was sentenced for the voluntary manslaughter of his step-son, 54-year-old Albert Wayne Fisher, Jr. is already up for parole.

Fisher’s first parole hearing will be held on Tuesday, March 14 at the Riverbend Maximum Security Institution in Nashville where he is incarcerated. According to Dustin Krugel, Communications Director for the Tennessee Board of Parole, four concurring Board member votes are needed to reach a final decision for this particular case.

Fisher, convicted for the voluntary manslaughter of his stepson Tyler Durden on October 31, 2019, was given the maximum prison term of six years for the crime by Judge Wesley Bray following a sentencing hearing Tuesday, January 11, 2022 in DeKalb County Criminal Court.

Fisher stood trial on November 17, 2021 on a charge of second-degree murder which carries a range of punishment as a Class A felony of 15-25 years, but the jury found him guilty of the lesser crime of voluntary manslaughter. The shooting occurred outside Fisher’s home on Eckles Heights in Liberty.

Fisher admitted firing the fatal shot but said he did it in self-defense because he felt threatened by the victim not knowing it was his stepson because he was wearing a Halloween disguise.

Judge Bray, who presided over the trial, said during the sentencing hearing that he didn’t believe Fisher’s version of the story and couldn’t understand why the jury saw it differently.

“While I respect the jury’s verdict of voluntary manslaughter, I cannot understand it, given the proof in this case,” said Judge Bray.

Both Mr. Fisher and his wife Debbie testified during the sentencing hearing that while it was a tragedy Fisher was justified in defending himself the night of the shooting and claimed that the two eyewitnesses who saw it differently and testified as such during the trial had lied.

Judge Bray told Fisher that he found the witnesses testimony more credible than his and took issue with his haste in pulling the weapon during a confrontation that lasted only about five minutes and for his lack of remorse.

“I don’t understand why you thought this was a good idea”, said Judge Bray. A supporter of constitutional rights of gun owners, Judge Bray told Fisher, who claimed to have had a concealed carry permit at the time of the shooting, that his actions that night gave a black eye to lawful gun owners who carry for protection.

Assistant District Attorney General Greg Strong, who spoke with the media after the sentencing hearing agreed with Judge Bray.

“I hope this sends a message that pulling a gun is not the first option because that is the first option, he (Fisher) chose. He didn’t try to de-escalate this situation and there is no gun training out there that doesn’t teach you de-escalation first. He (Fisher) never tried that,” said Strong.

In making a determination as to how long the prison sentence should be, Judge Bray took into consideration a set of enhancement factors offered by state prosecutors and mitigating factors submitted by the defense counsel.

The enhancement factors included the following:

That the personal injuries inflicted upon the victim were particularly great; that the defendant (Fisher) possessed or employed a firearm during the commission of the offense; that the defendant had no hesitation about committing a crime when the risk to human life was high; and that during the commission of the felony, the defendant intentionally inflicted serious bodily injury upon another person which resulted in the death of the victim.

Fisher’s attorney Michael Auffinger, cited as a mitigating factor, that Fisher had no previous criminal record but that there was sufficient provocation for Fishers’ actions in defending himself in this case as the jury found in its verdict for voluntary manslaughter, a decision which was reached after just over one hour of jury deliberation.

Assistant DA Strong said he was pleased with the judge’s decision in issuing the maximum sentence in this case, “I am happy with the sentence Judge Bray handed down. Obviously, Fisher got the maximum sentence for the offense he was convicted of. This was a senseless killing. In my opinion he (Fisher) went looking for it. You could tell by his demeanor more than what he said that he felt he was justified in this. He tried to play it off as a tragedy and that he didn’t want to be involved in it but it (proof) showed otherwise,” said Strong.

Fisher has been given credit for time served.

During the trial Fisher testified that he and his wife were at home Halloween night 2019 when he heard a loud banging on the front door. He said the banging was so loud it shook pictures off the wall. As his wife started to the door to tell whoever it was that they were not handing out candy, Fisher stopped her and opened the door himself. As he stepped outside Fisher said he saw two people dressed in black wearing masks crossing the street and asked his neighbor to point out which one had come to his door. Fisher said he called out to the unknown person to show “respect for my house and not beat on my door” The man (Durden) then turned around and came back to the sidewalk in front of Fishers’ home. According to Fisher as he called for him (Durden) to “go on down the street” Durden came up on the first step and began making “come to me” waving gestures with his hands. After he again told him to “get on up the street”, Fisher said the man started “doing a little dance” and then took another step toward the porch.

Fisher then drew his pistol and ordered the man to come no closer. Instead, Fisher testified that the man took the third step toward the porch and started pointing his index finger at his own chest and forehead. As the man took the fourth step, Fisher said he drew the hammer back on the weapon warning him again and then fired a shot as the man reached the fifth step. After the shot Fisher said the man fell and removed his mask revealing who he was and called for his mother saying, “ Mom I’ve been hit”.

Fisher said that he felt threatened by the man who he claimed kept coming up the steps toward him even after he (Fisher) pulled his pistol. “He didn’t fear the gun. I thought he was coming to attack me or my wife,” said Fisher during the trial in November,2021

It took the jury of eight men and four women about an hour and fifteen minutes to reach the verdict after a six-hour trial that featured six witnesses for the state and the testimony of Fisher himself.

February 13, 2023
By: Dwayne Page

Seven DCHS basketball players have received All-District honors.

The selections were announced Monday.

Conner Close of the Tiger basketball team was named to the 1st Team All-District while Robert Wheeler was selected to the 3rd Team All-District. Elisha Ramos received Honorable Mention. Alex Antoniak made the District’s All-Defensive Team and Jon Hendrix was named to the All-District Freshman Team.

DCHS Lady Tiger Ella VanVranken was selected to the 2nd Team All-District as well as the District’s All-Defensive Team and Chloe VanVranken made the District’s All-Freshman Team.

Meanwhile the pairings have been announced for the Class 3A, Region 4 District 7 Basketball Tournaments.

The DCHS Lady Tigers will travel to Sparta Tuesday night February, 14 to face the White County Warriorettes. The game tips off at 6 p.m. and WJLE will have LIVE coverage. DeKalb is the 5th place team and White County 4th. The winner will meet Livingston Academy, the #1 seed, in the semi-finals at Tennessee Tech on Saturday, February 18 at 8:30 p.m.

The Tigers will play their first game of the tournament on Thursday night, February 16 starting at 6 p.m. also at Sparta facing the White County Warriors. WJLE will have LIVE coverage. Like the girls, DC is the 5th place team and White County 4th. The winner will meet Stone Memorial, the #1 seed, on Saturday, February 18 at 4:30 p.m. at Stone Memorial.

Meanwhile in other 1st round district tournament games, the Upperman boys (3rd seed) will host Cumberland County (6th seed) Thursday, February 16 at a time to be announced while the Livingston Academy boys  (2nd seed) will host Macon County (7th seed) Thursday, February 16 at a time to be announced.

The Cumberland County girls (3rd seed) will host Stone Memorial (6th seed) Tuesday, February 14 at 6 p.m. while the Upperman girls (2nd seed) will host Macon County (7th seed) Tuesday, February 14 at a time to be announced.

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