Lyndsey Bronston pleads guilty in 2018 fatal Brentwood drive-by shooting, sentenced to 25 years in prison – Williamson Home Page

Lyndsey Grace Bronston, the final defendant in the 2018 drive-by shooting that killed Brentwood resident Clark Cable, entered into a plea deal with prosecutors on Monday.

She plead guilty to second degree murder and was sentenced to an effective 25 years in a state prison.

In September 2021, Bronstons co-defendant, Dustin William Russell, was sentenced to 30 years in prison for firing the deadly shots following his conviction of second degree murder and four counts of reckless endangerment in a July 2021 trial.

Bronston briefly appeared in court at the start of Russells trial, where she invoked her Fifth Amendment right against self-incrimination, which ended her participation in his criminal proceedings.

The couple were both initially charged with one count of first degree murder, conspiracy to commit first degree murder, reckless endangerment discharging a firearm into an occupied habitation and three counts of reckless endangerment with a deadly weapon, while Bronston was also charged with one count of tampering with evidence.

As part of the deal, Bronston pleaded guilty to the amended charge of second degree murder, one count of reckless endangerment discharging a firearm into an occupied habitation and three counts of reckless endangerment with a deadly weapon.

Lyndsey Grace Bronston in 2019.

She was sentenced to 20 years in prison for the murder charge and 5 years in prison for the charge of reckless endangerment discharging a firearm into an occupied habitation, which run consecutively. She received two years in prison for the counts of reckless endangerment with a deadly weapon, which runs concurrently with the first two counts.

Bronston will also receive jail credit for the some three years shes been incarcerated since her arrest.

Assistant District Attorney Kelly Lawrence, who prosecuted both Bronston and Russells cases, said in a phone call that the years-long process was emotional for both Cables family and those investigating and prosecuting the case, which saw significant delays due to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic.

Theres no sentence within the law that is ever going to comfort the family or [show] that justice has been done because they lost their son, so nothing that we do on our end or what the judge can do is ever going to make that right or make them whole, but with respecting the jurys verdict in Mr. Russells case, the sentence that LyndseyBronston received was commensurate with that, Lawrence said.

Lawrence said that the case was an unusual crime and set of circumstances to occur in Brentwood, especially as the case dealt with the apparent confusion by Bronston and Russell as to who Cable was or wasn't.

As brought up in the trial, Bronston had been a sex worker for around six months working between Nashville, Tullahoma and Atlanta, and at some point she began to become fearful of a Black man from Memphis she called Joe Jones.

Assistant District AttorneyKelly Lawrence gives the state's closing argument to the jury on July 29, 2021, during the murder trial of Dustin Russell. The victim, Clark Cable, can be seen on the court's television screen in a family photo.

That fear and seeming paranoia also included mentions of gangs in Memphis and bad cops along with a specific concern that she was in danger of becoming the victim of sex trafficking.

These concerns came with a text and phone call exchange between Bronston and Cable, where she asked a confused Cable, Who the f**k you sent to me and what they were planning."

These came before Cablereceived texts from Bronstons phone with details of Cables family and threats to their safety.

Later that night Cable opened up to his mother about the confusing communications and interactions with Bronston, but minutes later the home was attacked with a barrage of bullets, one of which killed Clark Cable on the night of his 25th birthday.

The couple fled the state soon after and were arrested in Arizona on Dec. 13, 2018.

It would almost be unbelievable had we not seen the searches that were brought up and the things that she was searching for, Lawrence said.

For this to just kind of happen I think startled the whole community, Lawrence said. Especially the family, they were totally taken aback by this.

Dustin Russell addresses and apologizes to the family of Clark Cable during his sentencing hearing on Sept. 27, 2021, where he was sentenced to 30 years in prison for murdering Cable in Brentwood in 2018. Russell'sdefense attorney Eric Larsen stands behind him.

Bronston did not address the court during the plea hearing, and while the hearing was attended by Cables family, they chose not to issue a victim impact statement, having previously issued passionate and emotional testimonies during both Russells trial and sentencing hearing last year.

Bronston was represented in court by Public Defender Greg Burlison, while Russell was represented in his case by attorney Eric Larsen.

Larsen argued in Russells trial that Russell was convinced that someone was attempting to traffick Bronston and that Russell had fired at the Cables home in an attempt to protect her from the perceived threat.

This case is a tragedy for all involved, Burlison said in an email. No resolution will replace what the Cable family has lost. Ms. Bronston is extremely remorseful for her role in this senseless death. She is grateful for the agreement reached that allows her to take responsibility for her actions while giving due consideration to the mitigating circumstances present in this case.

Brentwood Police Department Assistant Chief of Police Richard Hickey said in an email that BPD is pleased that both cases have come to a close with convictions, noting the hard work of BPD detectives who quickly honed in on Bronston and Russell as the suspects.

It gives us some closure, but more importantly, we hope it gives the family closure, Hickey said. Are we happy? We cant be happy when a young man lost his life in such a senseless act. We cant bring him back to life. But if the family has some measure of justice, then we did our job of making sure someone was held accountable. We dont always succeed, but this is our goal for every person who has been a victim of crime.

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Lyndsey Bronston pleads guilty in 2018 fatal Brentwood drive-by shooting, sentenced to 25 years in prison - Williamson Home Page