MORGAN COUNTY INMATE PLEADS GUILTY TO ASSAULTING OFFICER WITH ‘ICE PICK’
In Morgan County Correctional Complex in Wartburg, Tennessee, inmate Shawn Tate pleaded guilty to aggravated assault and possession of a weapon in a penal facility. The incident occurred on October 1, 2024, while Tate was serving an eight-year sentence.
Corrections officers were repairing a shower head in a neighboring cell and instructed Tate to close the service port on his door for safety reasons. Instead of complying, Tate threw bodily fluids onto one of the officers, then grabbed the officer’s arm and stabbed him multiple times with a prison-made “ice pick.”
The attack caused the officer, identified in connection with the case as Officer Evans, permanent nerve damage and mobility issues. Following his guilty plea, Tate received an additional ten-year sentence to be served at 100%, with the possibility of up to 15% good time credit.
Prosecutors emphasized that the unprovoked, violent assault on an officer simply performing his duties warranted strong accountability, offering some measure of closure for the victim and his family.
