Warrant: Police found drugs in car of suspect in KSP trooper’s death
Published 2:19 pm Thursday, October 29, 2026
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Emonnie Branch
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Kentucky State Police Trooper Hayden Phillips
After Emonnie Branch was arrested in Jefferson County on suspicion of having murdered Kentucky State Police Trooper Hayden Phillips, police found three bags of cocaine and two spent shell casings in Branch’s car, according to court records filed this week.
Branch, 51, was arraigned Tuesday in Warren Circuit Court on charges of murder of a first responder (peace officer), possession of a handgun by a convicted felon and tampering with physical evidence.
Branch is accused of shooting Phillips, 28, as the trooper was conducting a traffic stop in Warren County on Interstate 65 on Sept. 28.
A search warrant and supporting affidavit in the criminal case were filed Tuesday.
KSP Lieutenant Jonathan Vaughn sought the search warrant for a cell phone seized from the Honda Civic Branch had been driving, requesting approval to download information from the device associated with “murder and/or drug trafficking,” with the officer specifying that he wanted to search for information on the phone spanning the time frame of Aug. 29 to Sept. 29.
Warren District Court Judge Kim Geoghegan authorized the search warrant on Sept. 30.
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An affidavit sworn by Vaughn in support of his request for the warrant disclosed some details that police had learned in the early stages of the investigation.
The affidavit details that the shooting of Phillips was documented on the trooper’s in-car camera, and that Phillips had stopped the car for having an expired temporary tag.
Investigators learned that the tag belonged to a different vehicle registered to a woman with an Alabama address, but police learned after searching through databases that the woman currently lived in Portland, Tennessee, and that Branch was a known associate of hers.
Police checked vehicle registrations in Tennessee and found out that a 2017 Honda Civic was registered to Branch, matching the description of the car involved in the shooting.
The woman confirmed the Civic belonged to Branch, and police were present when she called Branch and asked why he was using her temporary tag, with Branch hanging up on her, according to Vaughn’s affidavit.
The woman then received a call from a person identified as “Ski” who told her that he had spoken to Branch and learned from him that he was on the run, the affidavit stated.
Police used law enforcement databases to locate a phone number for Branch, and emergency pings of Branch’s cell phone enabled police to locate him in Jefferson County, where he was arrested and police took custody of the Civic.
“During processing of the Honda Civic an Apple iPhone was located inside along with two spent shell casings and suspected narcotics inside of a Cheetos bag,” Vaughn stated in the affidavit.
Vaughn said that three small bags of white powder suspected to be cocaine were found in the Cheetos bag, and a digital scale and additional small plastic bags were also found in the car.
“Based on the amount and location of suspected narcotics, digital scales, drug paraphernalia, including baggies, (Police have) probable cause to believe and does believe that Branch was engaged in drug trafficking,” Vaughn stated in the affidavit.
Though Branch is not charged with any drug offenses, Vaughn requested the cell phone on the basis that his prior training and experience has shown him that people engaged in drug trafficking use cell phones to communicate with others to buy and sell drugs, records show.
Branch’s next court date is Feb. 12.
