Trial dates set for remaining West Tenn. deputies charged in Jackson Hopper arrest

DYER COUNTY, Tenn. (WMC) - A trial date has officially been set for the remaining two West Tennessee law enforcement officers charged in connection with the October 2024 arrest of convicted killer Jackson Hopper.

Court records show Matthew Lawler and Benjamin Stanifer are scheduled to stand trial on June 17 and 18, following a pre-trial conference set for May 4.

Lawler, 29, with the Tipton County Sheriff’s Office, and Stanifer, 30, with the Lauderdale County Sheriff’s Office, each face one count of tampering with evidence. Their cases were previously severed from four other law enforcement officers who went to trial in August.

Those four deputies—Bryan Lane, Dakota Wilkerson, Samuel Chastain, and Lynn Waller—were acquitted on all charges, which ranged from official misconduct and official oppression to assault. Charges against a former Mason Police Department officer were previously expunged.

The charges stem from Hopper’s arrest following a multi-county high-speed chase in October 2024, which was captured on video showing officers allegedly using excessive force. Hopper pleaded guilty to second-degree murder in the shooting death of 22-year-old Ellie Young and was sentenced to 40 years in prison.

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