WCSO: Inmate charged with attempted murder after attack on corrections officer

JONESBOROUGH, Tenn. (WJHL) — An inmate at the Washington County, Tennessee Detention Center (WCDC) has been charged with attempted second-degree murder after she reportedly attacked a corrections officer in a housing unit on Wednesday morning.

According to a social media post by the Washington County Sheriff’s Office (WCSO), Patricia Nunley, 44, of Bristol, Tennessee, was charged in connection to the alleged attack.

The WCSO reports an officer was in the process of moving Nunley from one housing unit to another in the jail Wednesday morning when Nunley began cursing at the officer and attempting to strike her in the face.

“The officer deployed her department-issued chemical agent to subdue the suspect at which point Nunley struck the officer in the face, used her arm to choke the officer and continued to hit the officer,” the sheriff’s office stated.

During the encounter, other inmates in the unit attempted to pull Nunley off of the officer, and the pair fell to the ground. The WCSO said as the officer tried to use her radio to call for help, Nunley reportedly took the radio’s cord, wrapped it around the officer’s neck and attempted to strangle her.

Two inmates were able to pull Nunley’s hands away and free the officer. After this, the WCSO said detention officers entered the unit and separated all parties. The officer who was assaulted was transported to an area medical facility for treatment, the sheriff’s office said.

Nunley was charged with attempted second-degree murder as a result of the attack. The WCSO said she was initially incarcerated for failure to appear on a court date related to a misdemeanor false activation of a fire alarm charge. The WCSO said her bond was set at $50,000 and her next court appearance is April 25.

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