The man accused of shooting and killing a Kentucky State Police trooper is charged with murder of a first responder, a peace officer, and will remain behind bars.
“The court at this time is going to deny bail,” said Kentucky District 8 Judge Kimberly Geoghegan Tuesday morning at the suspect’s arraignment.
On Monday, trooper Hayden Phillips, 30, lost his life in the shooting. By Monday evening, the Louisville Metro Police Department took Branch, of Portland, Tennessee, into custody.
Phillips belonged to Unit 369 and was assigned to Post 3 in Bowling Green, Kentucky. He graduated from KSP Cadet Class 103 and was a three-year veteran with the department. He leaves behind a wife, three little boys, and his parents.
Records show Branch, who is charged with the murder of Phillips, was already wanted for a probation violation.
That’s on top of his criminal rap sheet, which includes violent offenses in Tennessee.
Kentucky State Police Commissioner PJ Burnett reflected on Phillips’ life following his death.
“We will carry his memory with us, honor his life he lived, and the badge he wore,” Burnett Jr. said.
Around 2 p.m. Monday, Phillips was conducting a traffic stop on I-65 North in Warren County, Kentucky, when he was shot by an occupant in the vehicle, later identified as Branch. The vehicle then fled the scene, prompting KSP to issue a Blue Alert.
As of Monday evening, KSP canceled the Blue Alert, and LMPD took Branch into custody in Jefferson County.
Authorities booked Branch into the Warren County Regional Jail in Kentucky early Tuesday morning.
But it’s not his first run-in with the law, which was something outlined by the prosecutor during his arraignment in Bowling Green.
Tennessee Department of Correction records show Branch was on probation for a fraud impersonation conviction set to end in July 2030.
Tennessee Bureau of Investigation records show Branch was arrested twice this year for violating probation; once on April 13 and again on April 29.
His record also includes a guilty plea for violating a no-contact order, that he pleaded guilty to a lesser charge in a domestic assault case involving a juvenile, and a 2010 probation violation tied to a convicted felon possessing a weapon charge.
The Sumner County District Attorney, Thomas Dean, told FOX 17 News Branch has at least three prior convictions: attempted domestic assault, violating a no-contact order, and securities fraud.
Sumner County Court records also show a judge convicted Branch in 2009 of a 2007 felon-in-possession-of-a-weapon offense.
Dean said Branch was already wanted for a probation violation for the securities fraud conviction when he was accused of killing Phillips.
“Some trafficking and drugs, and also have reason to believe that he’s previously pled guilty to robbery and used a firearm in that offense,” said Bumgarner.
It’s a criminal history that police say prefaced Monday’s tragedy.
Branch’s defense said very little about the case during Tuesday’s hearing, focusing instead on next steps.
Branch’s next court date is Friday at 8:45 am in Bowling Green, where a judge is set to discuss whether to bring Branch back to Tennessee for the probation violation.
KSP says the only official way to donate to Phillips’ family is through the Kentucky State police Foundation and warns of schemes targeting individuals trying to help.
