LOUDON COUNTY, Tenn. (WVLT) – A grand jury has indicted a Loudon County inmate on an attempted murder charge after officials say he tried to take a facility nurse hostage in April.
According to 9th District Attorney General Russell Johnson, the grand jury met on May 11 to hear cases against Daniel Stinnett. He is accused of entering the nurse’s office at the Loudon County Jail on April 24, barricading himself and a female nurse inside and attempting to strangle her with an elastic waistband that had been removed from a pair of boxers.
After some time, Johnson said officers made their way into the office and overpowered and immobilized Stinnett. The nurse was taken to the emergency room for evaluation and treatment.
Johnson said at the time of the incident, Stinnett was in jail awaiting an upcoming jury trial where he is facing charges in the stabbing death of his live-in girlfriend in 2024.
Johnson and Assistant District Attorney Jed Bassett spoke with the nurse. She said she has returned to work in the Loudon County Jail and wants to try and immerse herself in her work as a nurse caring for the inmates and try and move beyond both the physical and mental trauma that she endured during the incident.
“In speaking with her, she praised the Loudon County Sheriff’s Office and Jail Captain Dusty Langley for the care that he shows for all the Corrections Officers and staff, as well as the inmates under his watch, and especially the concern that he has shown for her,” Johnson said. “She was also grateful for the response and efforts of the officers to bring this situation to an end without further injury to herself or the officers.”
Stinnett is scheduled to appear in court for arraignment on May 26.
