Kamonte E. Grissom

Negotiations are ongoing to attempt to resolve a murder case tied to a 2021 shooting on Nashville Road, with attorneys on both sides reporting progress during a Monday court hearing.

Kamonte Grissom, 21, appeared in Warren Circuit Court on Monday with his attorney, Jeb Dennis of the Department of Public Advocacy, for a pretrial conference in a case in which he is charged with murder, first-degree robbery and tampering with physical evidence.

Grissom is accused of fatally shooting Terrance R. Barton, 20, of Bowling Green, on Dec. 21, 2021, outside a gas station on Nashville Road.

During Monday’s hearing, Dennis and Warren County Commonwealth’s Attorney Kori Beck Bumgarner informed Warren Circuit Judge J.B. Hines that all discovery evidence gathered by both sides has been exchanged, and plea negotiations were active as of the end of the previous week.

Dennis said both sides were “pretty far along” in negotiations after hours of meetings.

Both attorneys requested an additional pretrial conference.

“I think we’re getting really close to knowing whether we’ll resolve this case with either a plea or a trial date,” Dennis said.

Hines set another pretrial conference for April 15.

Grissom has remained in Warren County Regional Jail since his arrest late on the night of Dec. 21, 2021.

The Bowling Green Police Department was dispatched earlier that night to Marathon gas station at 2229 Nashville Road regarding the shooting.

Officers found Barton near the business in a BMW 320i Series that had struck another vehicle on Nashville Road and Emmett Avenue.

Barton had received multiple gunshot wounds and was taken to The Medical Center, where he was pronounced dead.

According to court records, city police found a handgun and bags of marijuana on the floorboard of Barton’s vehicle.

Witnesses reported seeing a “skinny male believed to be Black, dressed in all black with a backpack fleeing the scene on foot on Emmett Avenue toward Russellville Road,” according to an affidavit for a search warrant filed by BGPD Detective Eric Stroud.

Two BGPD officers located Grissom in the area shortly after police received a description of the suspect.

Grissom was found walking on Nashville Road with a backpack and clothes matching what witnesses described, according to an arrest citation.

Grissom told police he had just come from his girlfriend’s house on Claremoor Avenue.

Detectives later questioned his girlfriend, who said Grissom came to the home “frantic” and said he had shot someone, Stroud’s affidavit said.

Police took Grissom to BGPD headquarters for an interview.

The affidavit from Stroud said Grissom admitted he was to meet Barton to buy $1,200 of marijuana but stated he did not have the money on him and intended to rob Barton.

“Grissom was armed with a handgun that he fired until the gun jammed,” Stroud said in the affidavit, which was filed Dec. 22, 2021. “A total of 16 spent shell casings were located at the scene. Grissom stated Barton did not return fire.”

City police recovered a handgun after Grissom reportedly disclosed that he hid it in a backyard after the shooting, court records show.