A Carter County inmate charged with escape after police say he walked away from a work detail following an altercation with another inmate now faces a felony charge in connection with that fight.
Deputies of the Carter County Sheriff’s Office served a warrant on James Edward Walton, 47, of Elizabethton, on Thursday charging him with aggravated assault.
According to court documents, Walton was on a work detail from the Carter County Detention Center at Cloudland Elementary School on Monday, Feb. 20, under the supervision of CCSO Deputy Wendell Treadway.
“(Treadway) reported that around 2:15 p.m. he was inside the school and heard shouting. He said he was approached by James Walton who stated ‘You need to do something with him, I’m tired of this s***,” CCSO Investigator Travis Ludlow said in the warrant against Walton. “Treadway then went outside to where the inmates were working to find Christopher Carver lying on the ground.”
“The other two inmates working at the school, Branson O’Quinn and Michael Greenwell, told Treadway that James Walton had hit Christopher Carver in the head with a shovel,” Ludlow added. “Treadway reported that Carver was responsive but seemed to be ‘in a daze.’”
Walton reportedly fled from the scene while Treadway checked on Carver. Part of his jail-issued uniform was later found near the Tennessee-North Carolina state line according to court documents. Walton later surrendered to deputies and was charged with escape.
Carver was transported to a local hospital for treatment and underwent emergency surgery, Carter County Sheriff Dexter Lunceford said.
Friday morning Walton appeared in Carter County General Sessions Court to be arraigned on the aggravated assault charge.
Judge Keith Bowers Jr. appointed the Public Defender’s Office to represent Walton and scheduled him to return to court on March 7, which is the same day he is to appear before the court in the escape case.