Man charged with murder after allegedly hacking victim with machete, attacking police

Police filed a murder charge early Friday against a Pulaski County man who allegedly hacked another man with a machete and shot him.

Cody T. Hall, 28, of Bronston is accused of attacking two other people with the machete and assaulting police.

In addition to murder, Hall is charged with two counts of first-degree assault, unlawful imprisonment, possession of a gun by a convicted felon, assault of a police officer, fleeing police, menacing and resisting arrest.

Police are investigating whether drugs played a role in the attack, said Maj. Jeffery Hancock of the Pulaski County Sheriff’s Office.

The alleged attacks happened early Thursday. Sheriff’s officers went to a mobile home on Bonnie Blue Lane in Bronston at 6:32 a.m. to investigate a report of a man assaulting two women with a machete, according to Sheriff Greg Speck.

The women, Ashley Coots, 25, and Wilma S. Hislope, 40, had gone to a neighbor’s home, and the man with the machete and a handgun had run off before police arrived.

A deputy and a sergeant found Hall one street over, armed with a gun and machete. Hall first complied officers’ commands to drop the weapons, but then he “rushed the officers and began assaulting them,” according to a news release.

They used stun guns on Hall, but he wasn’t subdued and ran. Officers caught and arrested him after a short foot chase.

When deputies went back to the trailer, they found the body of Lilburn Scott Holbrook, 50, of Bronston.

Holbrook had been cut with a machete, and police think he also was shot, Hancock said. An autopsy was scheduled for Friday morning.

The two women, who Hancock said both live at the mobile home on Bonnie Blue Lane, were taken to Lake Cumberland Regional Hospital. Hislope was released from the hospital later Thursday, Hancock said.

Coots, who is Cody Hall’s half-sister, remained hospitalized Friday.

The unlawful imprisonment charge against Hall was based on victims’ statements that Hall wouldn’t let them leave the trailer. There was another man inside, but he escaped unharmed, Hancock said.

Hall was taken to University of Chandler Hospital with injuries that were thought to have been self-inflicted.

Hancock said Hall cut his wrist. It wasn’t known whether he was trying to kill himself.

Hall was released from the hospital late Thursday after surgery, and deputies took him to the Pulaski County jail. He was being held Friday under a $1 million bond, according to a news release.

Hancock said the investigation remains open. Police don’t yet know the motive for the attacks.

“It’s just very convoluted,” Hancock said.

This story was originally published July 6, 2017 at 7:29 PM with the headline "Man charged with murder after allegedly hacking victim with machete, attacking police."