Delke Takes Plea Deal, Avoiding Murder Trial for Fatal Hambrick Shooting

Decommissioned Metro Police Officer Andrew Delke will not go to trial next month for the fatal shooting of Daniel Hambrick, a Black man, in 2018. But he will be serving prison time. 

Hambrick family attorney Joy Kimbrough tells the Scene that Delke and his attorneys agreed to a plea deal with prosecutors that will see Delke sentenced to three years in prison. Delke's attorney, David Raybin, also confirmed that his client is taking a plea deal and said he will hold a press conference after the plea is entered in court Friday morning. 

Kimbrough says that Vicki Hambrick, Daniel Hambrick's mother, was blindsided by the news that the officer who shot her son in the back will not be facing a jury. 

“She is very upset," Kimbrough says. "She is distraught. It’s like losing Daniel all over again.”

Delke is the first Nashville police officer to face murder charges for an on-duty shooting. Police officers are very rarely prosecuted for on-duty shootings, and convictions are even more rare. Jury selection in Delke's first-degree murder trial was set to begin next week.