Father of slain teen held without bond after police standoff in Chickamauga, Ga.

Tuesday, December 24, 2013

photo A Walker County Sheriff's car is parked blocking Walker Hollow Road after a standoff between police and Bobby McConathy that began around 2:30 a.m.
photo Dalton McConathy is pictured with his mother, Kim Lowery, in this family photo.

The man arrested in Chickamauga, Ga., after a seven-hour police standoff Saturday will remain in jail without bond at least until he goes before a Walker County Superior Court judge, probably not until January.

Bobby Joe McConathy, 43, appeared in Walker County Magistrate Court on Monday afternoon, two days after sheriff's office personnel arrested him on charges of false imprisonment, possession of a firearm by a convicted felon, five counts of reckless endangerment and five counts of simple battery.

Judge Jerry Day said McConathy will be held without a bond until he goes to Superior Court for a violation-of-probation hearing, which stems from a 2006 theft by receiving case.

Day said he does not know when that hearing will be. Probation hearings are normally held once a month, and Day expects McConathy will not go before a judge until next year.

McConathy's 17-year-old son, Dalton, was killed on Nov. 11 when a Ringgold man shot the boy in the neck.

The boy was in 69-year-old Fred Steven Youngblood's backyard, and Youngblood told investigators he acted in self-defense.

Youngblood has not been charged in the case.

McConathy's family says he has been distraught since his son's death.

On Saturday, he fired a gun into his ceiling, his family called 911, and McConathy refused to allow deputies inside when they responded to the scene.

About seven hours later, McConathy finally ran outside after members of the Walker County Sheriff's Office threw cans of pepper spray into his house.

McConathy's family said he blames himself for the death of his son. Two days before Youngblood shot Dalton McConathy, the boy and his father got into an argument, and he kicked him out of the house.

Contact staff writer Tyler Jett at 423-757-6476 or tjett@timesfreepress.com.