Witness Says Lyle Put Gun To His Own Head After Shooting Teen In Chest

Nathaniel Bailey testified Thursday that Raymond “Trey” Lyle put a gun to his own head after shooting 19-year-old Justin Allen at a house at Harrison Bay last Nov. 16.

He said Lyle claimed it was an accident, but the witness said Lyle had threatened both him and Allen previously related to an alleged murder plot involving the father of one of their friends.

General Sessions Court Judge Lila Statom bound a charge of attempted murder against Lyle to the Grand Jury. She kept him on a $250,000 bond.

Thomas “Toby” Claxton Jr. is charged in a separate case of solicitation to commit first-degree murder. He said he sought to have Lyle, Bailey and Allen kill his father, Thomas Claxton Sr.

Bailey, who has not been charged in either incident, said the shooting of Allen happened in Toby Claxton’s bedroom. He said he and Lyle arrived to find Claxton asleep in his bed and Allen asleep on a pallet by the bed.

He said he also lay down to sleep because he and Lyle were tired from driving all day after a quick trip to Florida following the first incident in which the Lyle home was burglarized and a gun fired inside the house.

Bailey said Lyle was playing around with a 22 caliber handgun when he closed his eyes. He said he and Lyle earlier had gone out and each fired the gun into the lake.

Bailey said he had his eyes closed for about 30 seconds when he heard the gun go off. He said Allen jumped up and he could tell he was shot. He said he clutched him in his arms, then an ambulance was called.

He said Lyle was “frantically running around.” He said he told him to put the gun down.

Bailey said in the incident a couple of days earlier that Lyle had gone into the Claxton house and he came out with some guns taken from the gun safe. He said Lyle was acting frantically afterward and he told him he should throw the guns in the lake. They stopped and tossed two guns in the water, then he said he and Lyle drove to Florida.

Bailey said Lyle saw some xanax on a counter in Claxton’s bedroom and had snorted two small bars of it just prior to the shooting of Allen.

Detective James Fields also said it would not have been possible for the gun to have gone off and shot Allen accidentally the way Lyle said it did. He said Allen was lying on his side and the bullet went into his side and lodged in his heart.

Allen survived and was interviewed by the detective.

The elder Claxton was out of town at the time of the Allen shooting.

Earlier, an East Ridge Mapco employee told of seeing the four alleged conspirators come by in a truck last November.

Bradley Love said Lyle and Nathaniel Bailey came by the next night and bought a pair of gloves. He said they were headed for the Claxton home in Harrison. He said they apparently planned to carry out a burglary.

The father of Claxton told police he woke up at his home on the night of Nov. 15 to the sound of gunfire and a vehicle speeding away.

Claxton said he Allen, Lyle and Bailey had made plans to kill his father and stage it as a burglary.

He said his father was planning on kicking him out of the house if he did not start college and find a job. He also said that he would benefit financially from his father’s death.

Police found that the gun safe had been opened and the home burglarized with some $13,000 in items taken. Claxton’s father said only he and his son had access to the security codes to get into the house.

Claxton admitted giving the codes to Lyle and Bailey.