(Story courtesy of WVLT News)

Maryville, TN (WVLT) Kenneth DeHart Jr., the man accused of shooting two Blount County Sheriff’s Office deputies in February, injuring one and killing the other, could face the death penalty.

The state filed two notices Friday, one seeking the death penalty, saying it will seek the death penalty in the case, which began at the start of the year when DeHart was taken into custody.

According to BCSO, Deputies Shelby Eggers and Greg McCowan stopped DeHart after he was found to be driving erratically. During the stop, the situation escalated, and DeHart shot both deputies, injuring Eggers and killing McCowan, BCSO said.

DeHart was also the subject of a five-day manhunt following the shooting. Several agencies assisted in the search, including the U.S. Marshals, Knoxville Police Department, Tennessee Bureau of Investigation and more. DeHart was taken into custody at a Knoxville home following the search.

Following the state’s filing, DeHart’s own legal representative, Stephen Ross Johnson of Ritchie, Davies, Johnson & Stovall, P.C., filed his own motion claiming there were issues in DeHart’s preliminary hearing in February.

Johnson claimed in the filing that DeHart had requested to attain his own counsel, but was not given enough time between his arrest and his preliminary hearing to do so. Johnson said it cost DeHart the chance to adequately seek bail and “move to suppress unconstitutionally obtained evidence” in his case.

After he was taken into custody, Sheriff James Lee Berrong commented, saying DeHart should face the death penalty for his actions.

Also charged in connection to the shooting are DeHart’s girlfriend, Carrie Matthews, DeHart’s brother, Marcus DeHart and a man identified as Maurice Warren. All three of them were charged with accessory after the fact, BCSO said, for assisting DeHart while he was on the run.

In April, DeHart was indicted on 21 counts related to the case.