ELIZABETHTON — A Carter County jury on Thursday found a man guilty of vehicular homicide in the 2012 crash that killed his “best friend.”Micah Cates will face a sentencing hearing May 5 after the guilty verdict in the two-day trial related to the death of his passenger, Tanner Lee Perkins, 20, on Milligan Highway near Okolona Road on the morning of Aug. 14, 2012.Earlier in the trial Thursday, Cates testified that the steering wheel of his 2002 BMW 325i became unresponsive as it was approaching the curve.Cates said he ran up on a concrete divider on Greenwood Road near the East Tennessee State University campus in May of 2012. The car was in the repair shop for a month. Repair shop owner Jeff Williams said Cates requested extensive steering and front suspension work on the car.After he got the car back, Cates testified he had no problems with it, but he only drove it around Johnson City. He said the trip on the Milligan Highway on Aug. 14 was the first time he had it at highway speeds. During Wednesday’s testimony, Elizabethton Police Corporal Ryan Brackett said the speedometer on the wrecked car was stuck at 85 mph.There was also testimony from several witnesses on Thursday about the hours leading up to the wreck. Cates, Perkins and several others had gathered at Perkins’ apartment to watch “Shark Week.” They also were drinking. The Tennessee Bureau of Investigation reported a sample of blood drawn from Cates after the crash indicated his blood alcohol percentage was .14, which exceeds the state DUI level of .08.
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