Blake Stansell
Superior Court Judge Don W. Thompson has sentenced Christopher Blake Stansell of Chickamauga, Ga., to 30 years with the first 10 years to be served in confinement in the Georgia Department of Corrections.
He had been convicted of four counts of aggravated assault, home invasion first-degree burglary and two counts of cruelty to children in the first degree.
Stansell had entered a non-negotiated guilty plea to the charges earlier with the court ordering a pre-sentence investigation by the probation office.
During the two and a half hour sentencing hearing, the facts were laid out to Judge Thompson through the introduction of Ring doorbell security camera footage and Chickamauga Police Department (CPD) body camera footage of the incident, as well as testimony from CPD Detective Ira Taylor and CPD patrolman Charles Dunn.
The case took place on Memorial Day in 2023. The Selimagic family had invited friends to their home to celebrate. Next door, the Stansells had family and friends at their house as well.
During the day Blake Stansell, as well as others, came over to the Selimagics to visit. Later in the evening, Stansell came over to socialize as the Selimagics cleaned up, when he got into a verbal argument with David Lockhart and his sons, who were guests of the Selimagics.
Mr. Selimagic suggested everyone go home and the Lockharts went to their car and attempted to leave. As they drove past the Stansell home, after having turned around in the cul-de-sac, Stansell approached their car and began hitting it. The younger Lockharts exited their car and proceeded to engage in a physical altercation with Stansell. Dino Selimagic, Sr. attempted to stop the altercation but was unsuccessful.
Afterwards Stansell turned his anger towards Mr. Selimagic accusing him of letting the Lockharts beat him up. Stansell began verbally threatening the Selimagic family and then retrieved a 9mm handgun from his home screaming his intentions to kill the whole family. Stansell walked over to the Selimagic home firing his weapon into their house while he continued making threats. At one point he kicked in the outside door to the garage and then attempted to kick in an interior door to gain entry to the home.
Unsuccessful and out of ammunition, Stansell walked back out to the driveway where he was confronted by Officer Dunn. After several attempts to get Stansell to drop his weapon, Dunn tased him and was able to take him into custody.
The case was prosecuted by Senior Assistant District Attorney Bruce Roberts.
District Attorney Clayton M. Fuller said, “In our small-town community, there’s no place for violent offenders who bring guns and chaos to family homes. On Memorial Day, while neighbors gathered in peace, Blake Stansell turned a celebration into a scene of terror. Thanks to the courage of Officer Dunn and the Chickamauga Police Department – who showed exceptional bravery that night – this defendant was stopped before a greater tragedy could have happened.
“Our community recently lost Officer Dunn to another senseless act of violence in our community, and we will continue to protect this community with the same resolve he showed throughout his career.”
This article was originally published by a www.chattanoogan.com . Read the Original article here. .