Warrant details moments before Trooper Phillips was shot
According to court records, the shooting was captured on camera before the suspect drove away.
SMITHS GROVE, Ky. — A complaint warrant filed in Warren County provides new details about the shooting of Kentucky State Police Trooper Hayden Phillips during a traffic stop Monday near Smiths Grove.
Phillips, 28, was killed during the traffic stop involving Emonnie Branch, 51, of Portland, Tennessee. Branch is charged with murder of a first responder and is being held without bail in the Warren County Regional Jail.
According to court records, Phillips stopped Branch near mile marker 38 on Interstate 65 around 1:15 p.m. Branch was driving a bluish-gray Honda Civic with an expired temporary tag.
Phillips approached the vehicle from the passenger side, according to the complaint warrant. His cruiser’s dash camera captured the interaction.
The footage shows Phillips leaning into the vehicle and apparently speaking with the driver, who was the only person inside, according to the warrant. Police described the driver as a Black male with dreadlock-style hair.
Authorities have not publicly released video of the interaction.
Brennan Crain
Two shots were fired, and Phillips collapsed backward, according to the warrant. The document does not specify how much time passed between Phillips approaching the vehicle and the shooting.
The Civic then merged back into traffic and continued northbound on I-65.
Investigators later determined the temporary tag was registered to another person.
That person had an Alabama address associated with the tag but was also associated with a Portland address at the time of the shooting. Branch was connected to that address as well.
Investigators contacted the person associated with the vehicle and address, who confirmed the Honda Civic belonged to Branch, according to the warrant.
Police then obtained Branch’s cellphone number and requested an emergency cellphone ping.
KSP previously said Flock cameras and other technology helped investigators track Branch as he traveled north. He was ultimately apprehended in a Louisville neighborhood about four hours after the shooting.
According to the warrant, the vehicle Branch was found in matched the one captured on Phillips’ dash-camera video. Officers found a shell casing in the back seat and blood on the passenger side of the vehicle.
The KSP Critical Incident Response Team is leading the investigation.
Brennan Crain
KSP and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives were seen Wednesday along I-65 near the site of the shooting and at Mammoth Cave National Park conducting what appeared to be a search for evidence.
Authorities have not explained why those areas are relevant to the investigation.
Speaking to reporters Wednesday, KSP Commissioner Phillip Burnett Jr. did not confirm whether the gun used in the shooting had been recovered. He confirmed investigators were still working to recover additional evidence.
Phillips had been with Kentucky State Police for three years. He was a Barren County resident and leaves behind a wife and three children.
Branch was arraigned Tuesday morning, where he was appointed an attorney from the Department of Public Advocacy. He is scheduled for a preliminary hearing at 8:45 a.m. Friday in Warren County.
