Country Singer Loses Gunfight With Bounty Hunter

A demise straight out of a country song for "All-American Redneck" singer Randy Howard: The 65-year-old was killed in a gunfight with a bounty hunter at his Tennessee home this week, reports the Chattanooga Times Free Press. A Tennessee Bureau of Investigation spokesman tells the AP that the agency is looking into the death of the singer, who was killed Tuesday night when bondsman Jackie Shell tried to take him into custody on a warrant issued after he missed a court appearance on charges of fourth-offense DUI, possession of drug paraphernalia, possession of a firearm while intoxicated, and driving on a revoked license.

The TBI spokesman says Howard opened fire when Shell entered his home; he was killed when the wounded bounty hunter fired back. "He'd been in jail here for a pretty good while. He didn't show up for court, so they had a failure to appear out on him. That's what the jail told me," the county sheriff tells the Times Free Press. Regulations differ from state to state, but in Tennessee it's legal for a bounty hunter to enter a home, reports the New York Daily News. Howard, who shared a stage with stars including Willie Nelson and Waylon Jennings and wrote songs for Hank Williams III, was known as a member of country's "Outlaw" movement, the AP notes. (Click for 20 more musicians who died this year.)