Two people charged in connection with New Year’s Day shooting

Laurel County Sheriff’s detectives have charged two people in connection with a shooting that occurred Jan. 1 at a north Corbin residence.

Deputy Gilbert Acciardo, the department’s public affairs officer, said deputies charged 45-year-old Zachary Lee Thompson with two counts of first-degree assault and 31-year-old Sarah Renay Mills with tampering with physical evidence.

Thompson is accused of shooting Charles Rogers twice in the chest with a Highpoint 9mm handgun.

Acciardo said one of the rounds passed through Rogers and struck Bruce Aldrige in the leg.

Deputies were initially called to the scene in response to a complaint of a home invasion with shots fired.

When deputies arrived, they found Rogers at the scene but no shooter and no gun.

Deputies say Rogers and Thompson had been in a verbal argument, which then escalated.

“We still don’t know what they had been arguing about,” Acciardo said.

While Thompson had reportedly fled the scene, Acciardo said, based on the investigation, he was identified as a suspect, and deputies have been working to develop a case against him, while also attempting to apprehend him.

“We developed enough information by yesterday that we could charge them,” Acciardo said adding Thompson and Mills were already in custody in the Laurel County Correctional Facility on unrelated charges.

Acciardo said one piece of missing evidence is the gun, which Mills is accused of giving to another individual.

“The pistol has not yet been recovered,” Acciardo said.

Thompson is charged with two counts of first-degree assault, two counts of first-degree wanton endangerment, tampering with physical evidence and possession of a handgun by a convicted felon.

Thompson and Mills are each being held in the correctional center without bond.

Thompson and Mills are each scheduled to be arraigned today in Laurel District Court.