A 33-year-old homicide in Walker County has been cleared after “sufficient evidence to prosecute” was identified recently, sheriff Steve Wilson said.

According to Wilson:

On Feb. 5, 1979, Ernest Harrell Hulsey was found dead at his business, Sonny’s Used Cars, at 1940 McFarland Road in Rossville. Hulsey had been shot once in the abdomen.

In April 2008, the homicide case was reopened by Walker County detectives. During the time of the current investigation, Jimmy B. Cardin Jr. of Ringgold was identified as a suspect.

Also, witnesses were identified whose statements corroborated evidence and other known facts from the crime scene.

In April 2009, as detectives were completing the investigation, Cardin Jr. died from injuries sustained in an automobile accident in Fort Oglethorpe.

After completing the investigation, detectives consulted with Lookout Mountain Judicial Circuit district attorney Herbert E. “Buzz” Franklin.

In June Franklin reviewed the case and issued a written opinion that states “it appears from the evidence we now possess that there would have been sufficient evidence to prosecute Jimmy Bedford Cardin Jr. for the murder.”

Investigators believe the shooting stemmed from an argument about a dog fight.