Driver indicted in deaths on I-40

Maryville woman's bond set at $4 million; arraignment Monday

The Associated Press

July 12, 2003

LEBANON, Tenn. - The driver of a stolen car that plowed into two officers on Interstate 40 during a high-speed chase was indicted Friday on six counts, including four of first-degree murder.

Fallon Tallent, 21, of Maryville faces two counts of felony murder, two charges of premeditated first-degree murder and two counts of second-degree murder in the deaths of Mount Juliet Police Sgt. Jerry Mundy and Wilson County Sheriff's Deputy John Musice on Wednesday.

The death penalty is a possibility for the first-degree murder counts, but Wilson County prosecutor Bobby Hibbett said it hasn't been decided whether to pursue that yet.

"It's premature to talk about that right now," he said after the two-hour grand jury proceeding.

Bond was set at $4 million for Tallent, whom Hibbett said would be transferred to the state Correction Department and held in Nashville. She had been housed at the Macon County Jail since shortly after her arrest because she broke the glasses of one Wilson County jailer when she hit him with a telephone and struck another officer.

The grand jury did not consider charges against Dorothy Cash, 33, of Knoxville, who was a passenger in the 1986 Mercedes-Benz that Tallent was driving. Cash was in stable condition Friday at Vanderbilt University Medical Center with unspecified injuries.

The funeral for Musice on Friday afternoon at Lebanon's First Baptist Church drew hundreds of mourners, including Knoxville police officers and police officers from across the state. Dozens of squad cars formed a procession through downtown.

Four motorcycle officers from the Knoxville Police Department participated in the procession. A total of eight KPD officers attended the service.

Musice's stepson and stepdaughter were among those who eulogized Musice at the packed church. Musice's brother carried an urn into the church.

A service for Mundy was set for today at Two Rivers Baptist Church in Nashville. Knoxville police officers will be present and KPD motorcycle patrolmen will take part in today's procession, too.

Mundy, 43, and Musice, 49, were struck Wednesday morning after placing a spike strip on I-40 at Mount Juliet, about 25 miles east of Nashville.

They were attempting to bring to a safe end a chase that began about 30 minutes earlier after the Tennessee Highway Patrol office in Cookeville received numerous calls about a car driving recklessly. When authorities learned the car was stolen, officers from Lebanon, Wilson County and Mount Juliet gave pursuit.

On Thursday, Gov. Phil Bredesen asked the state Department of Safety to review the use of spike strips.

Tallent is scheduled to be arraigned at 9 a.m. Monday at the Wilson County Courthouse.

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