(WKYT) – Dustin Deaton, 28, of Corbin, was shot and killed early Sunday morning behind the Speedy Mart in Corbin following an argument with 18-year-old Mark Allen, according to police. Allen has been arrested and charged with Deaton’s murder.
Police describe scene
Detective Robbie Hodge called the crime unusually violent for the city.
“It was useless. There’s no sense in this. I can’t think of anything that would have made this even a reasonable crime to have been committed,” Hodge said.
Police said the shooting followed an argument between Deaton and Allen.
Family and friends remember Deaton
Deaton’s brother, Jeffrey, described him as a gift to the earth and a caring person who would help anyone who needed it.
Shannon Eversole, a longtime family friend, said Deaton had a kind heart.
“He had such a kind heart. He didn’t have no ill words for anybody,” Eversole said.
Eversole said Deaton loved hunting, fishing and his only son, Maverick.
“He thought the sun rose and set in his daddy, and Dustin thought Maverick hung the moon,” Eversole said.
Marty Jordan, who is engaged to Deaton’s step-mother, described him as an old soul.
“I felt like I was talking to a 45-year-old man when I was talking to him, and we’d have long conversations. Good ones,” Jordan said.
Jordan and Eversole said they could not believe Deaton would get into an argument that escalated to violence.
“Shocked. I couldn’t believe it. When they said he had had words with someone at a bar and it escalated to that point, I can’t accept that,” Jordan said.
Jordan said he hopes people remember Deaton as kind, loving and selfless.
“That we just love him, it’s a hard goodbye,” Jordan said.
Court proceedings
Allen appeared Monday morning in Knox County court, where he entered a not guilty plea. He is scheduled for a preliminary hearing on Oct. 27 at 11 a.m.
Detective Hodge is asking anyone with additional information about the case to contact the Corbin Police Department.