By Nathan Ham
Former Ashe County Sheriff’s Deputy and “Southern Justice” television show fan favorite Josh “Hoppy” Hopkins was found not guilty of second-degree murder. The jury trial in Yadkin County concluded on Monday morning with the not-guilty verdict.
Hopkins was indicted by a grand jury in Ashe County on Sept. 26, 2016 for his actions in the shooting death of Dallas Arthur Shatley of Crumpler back in July of 2015.
The Ashe County Sheriff’s Office was called to a disturbance around 10 p.m. at Shatley’s residence in Crumpler. It was then that Shatley allegedly attempted to drive away while dragging an officer with him. Shots were fired and Shatley later died at Ashe Memorial Hospital.
All three of the deputies that responded to the incident were wearing body cameras at the time.
Prior to being indicted by the grand jury, Hopkins left the Ashe County Sheriff’s Department and took a job as a sheriff’s deputy with the Carter County Sheriff’s Office in Elizabethton, Tennessee.