Judge denies disqualification of District Attorney Frederick Agee

HAYWOOD COUNTY, Tenn. — Circuit Judge Clayburn Peeples has ordered a new trial for Darrell Davis, who was convicted of the 2017 murder of Tyion Taylor.

The decision comes after a December 2024 hearing that examined potential legal errors claimed by Davis’s defense that might have compromised his case.

A Nashville defense attorney filed a motion to disqualify 28th District Attorney Frederick Agee from a murder retrial after a March 2025 decision by Haywood County Judge Clayburn Peeples.

Nashville Public Defender Dawn Deaner claims Agee had a conflict of interest under rules of professional conduct, preventing him and his office from prosecuting Darrell Davis in the 2017 murder of Taylor.

Attorney Deaner’s motion alleges unprofessional and biased conduct.

Judge Peeples denied Deaners motion for recusal that essentially solidifies District Attorney Agee’s stance on the case to move forward on retrial prosecution.

Davis has served approximately seven years of his time to date and is being held on $500,000 bond.

“When you’re trying cases, there’s no perfect trial. When you’re investigating cases there’s, no perfect investigation. In prosecuting cases, there’s no perfect prosecution. We’re transparent–we have an open file discovery in our office. We have online discovery. We do everything we can to be transparent to follow the rules and regulations that we are required to follow,” said Agee.

The new trial for Davis is set to March 9, 2026. A bond hearing was held to determine a motion to reduce, which was also denied by Judge Peeples.

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