Red Bay man pleads guilty to manslaughter

By Staff
Jonathan Willis
A Red Bay man has been freed after serving 30 months in jail for the 2005 shooting death of his stepfather.
Blaine Allen Brewer, 28, 15981 Franklin 11, Red Bay, pleaded guilty to manslaughter yesterday. He had been in custody until recently when he was released from jail.
Brewer was arrested and charged with murder in May 2005. He was accused of shooting and killing his stepfather, 45 year-old Terry Attaway, at the family's Red Bay home.
Brewer followed Attaway into the family's driveway and shot him in the head as he sat in his truck. He then drove to the Red Bay Police Department and turned himself into authorities.
Franklin County District Attorney Joey Rushing said his office accepted a manslaughter plea due to several circumstances.
"Anytime a murder case is settled, you have to take all the facts into consideration," Rushing said. "In this instance, we had a two-pronged defense in which they were going to argue that Mr. Brewer was guilty by reasons of insanity."
Brewer was examined at Taylor-Hardin Mental Facility more than once and was determined to be competent. Rushing, however, said that mental health workers recognized that he did have some mental defects that caused them to keep him for quite some time.
Rushing said a second issue facing the prosecution was the fact that Attaway served time in prison for sodomizing Brewer when he was a child.
"Mr. Brewer had been a victim of sexual abuse and sodomy when he was a child," Rushing said. "We would have had a very difficult time getting a conviction."
As part of the plea agreement, Brewer was given a 20-year prison sentence, split with 2 and 1/2 years in jail and 2 and 1/2 more through Franklin County Community Corrections. For the first year he is out of prison, Brewer will be required to wear an ankle bracelet that will monitor where he goes. Defense attorney John Benn said that Brewer is relieved to be out of custody.
"I think he's happy not to be in custody and integrating back into a regular lifestyle," he said.