NASHVILLE, TN -- Katie Quackenbush, a 27-year-old aspiring alt-country singer/rapper, pleaded not guilty Wednesday to the attempted murder of a homeless man following an August 2017 shooting on Music Row. Quackenbush waived her right to an appearance and her plea was entered by her attorney on her behalf.
According to police, Quackenbush shot 54-year-old Gerald Melton, who is homeless, during an early morning encounter August 26.
Police say Quackenbush and Melton got in an argument related to the noise and exhaust coming from Quackenbush's SUV. At an earlier hearing, Melton testified that, generally, that was true and didn't deny using racist and sexist language during the confrontation.
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"Even if I did say that it's not an excuse to shoot me," he testified, according to The Tennessean.
As the argument escalated, Quackenbush loaded her pistol, got out of the SUV and walked toward Melton. Melton, who was shot twice, said that Quackenbush asked him if he "wanted to die tonight."
Melton admitted he said he "ought to kill" her, but that he did not have a weapon. Quackenbush's friend, who was a passenger in the SUV, testified she never felt threatened by him.
After the shooting, Quackenbush and the friend went to Taco Bell, according to police.
Ever since her arrest in mid-September, Quackenbush, through her father, has maintained the shooting was self-defense.
Quackenbush is an alt-country singer and sometime-rapper, according to her social media accounts (some of the photos and the lyrics of the rap song are explicit). She at one time ran a company which provided "promo girls" for extreme sports events.
Quackenbush has twice been arrested for assault in her native Texas. One case in Amarillo, where her father is a defense attorney, was dismissed in 2013 and she was ordered to pay $400 in attorney's fees.
Photo via Metro Nashville Police
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