Two Life Sentences Assessed in Deputy’s Shooting

TYLER — The man accused of shooting Smith County Deputy Josh Caulkins, Christopher Martin Summerville, 27, has been handed two life sentences after he entered a guilty plea in court Monday afternoon. Summerville was charged with two counts of aggravated assault against a public servant. Judge Jack Skeen of the 241st District Court heard the plea and assessed the sentences. Last October, Summerville was also indicted for aggravated robbery and failure to register as a sex offender.

In March 2011, Smith County Sheriff’s deputies and U.S. Marshals served a warrant on then 26 year old Summerville at The Arbors apartments on Chimney Rock in Tyler for failing to register as a sex offender. When officials attempted to enter the apartment, Summerville shot Caulkins in the chest. Luckily, Caulkins was saved by his bulletproof vest. After the shooting, Summerville was taken to a local hospital for a meth overdose. Officials believed at the time that Summerville injected himself with the drug just before they arrived at his apartment complex.

At the time of the shooting, Summerville was not charged with the assault, but in April, Tyler Police investigators secured the evidence to arrest him for Aggravated Assault of a Peace Officer, which is a first degree felony. Summerville was also charged with Manufacture and Delivery of a Controlled Substance and Engaging in Organized Criminal Activity, both first degree felonies. Two other people, Kara Hanley and Jeffery Andrysiak, who were in the apartment at the time of the shooting, were also charged for Engaging in Organized Criminal Activity.