In a recent violent episode in Tipton County, officers arrested a man after his girlfriend reported being shot at home with their 4-year-old child present. Sheriff Shannon Beasley posted on social media that deputies dispatched to Munford, TN, found the victim, April Dickerson, wounded but alive. Hunter Melton, identified as the shooter and Dickerson's boyfriend, fled the scene but was later found hiding in a wooded area by law enforcement.
While deputies responded to the incident at 43 Woodlawn Cv., the shaken victim had fled on foot to a neighbor's care. Following the arrival of emergency personnel, attempts were made to reach Melton in the residence, before a neighbor revealed he had already left. Once entering the house, they found and secured the unharmed child, creating a moment that underscores the fragility of innocence often caught in domestic disputes.
Melton, upon capture, was charged with several felonies, including possession of a firearm by a felon and aggravated child abuse. Sheriff Beasley expressed in the press release, "Melton showed what kind of man he really is after he not only shot his girlfriend while the child was in the home but he then left the 4-year old child in the home...alone...with no one to care for the child." Melton faces serious time behind bars, leaving the community to grapple with the ordeal's impact on the victim and her child, as per the Sheriff Shannon Beasley.
The search for the suspect was brief, with a Drug Task Force Agent and a Tipton County Detective locating Melton. Aided by K9 units, officers later found a firearm and discarded clothing belonging to Melton. Coming back to the Tipton County Jail seemed inevitable for Melton, who has a history with firearms despite his felon status, a track record that now adds a reckoning of familial betrayal to its narrative.
The incident, ending with the victim's hospitalization and the involvement of the Tennessee Department of Children's Services, has prompted an appeal from the sheriff's office for more information.
