Vehicular homicide suspect served 12 years in prison for Johnson City armed robbery

BY: Kevin Castle
news@wxbq.com

JOHNSON CITY- A convicted felon is now facing a charge of vehicular homicide after he was reportedly intoxicated behind the wheel when he crashed in downtown Johnson City, killing one person and injuring two others.

Stephen Kotsonis, 36, is also charged on other multiple counts including driving under the influence, leaving the scene of an accident and vehicular assault, according to a JCPD report.

According to court records, Kotsonis served 12 years in prison after he was charged and convicted of robbing a Johnson City video store at gunpoint in April of 2011. An appeal of his sentence filed in federal court in Greeneville, claiming he had inadequate counsel during his jail time after the robbery, was denied in 2017 by Judge Ronnie Greer.

Prior to that, in 2024 he tried to escape police giving pursuit on Highway 11E and clocked at 116 miles per hour before he was stopped and arrested at Grandview School. Kotsonis was charged with evading arrest.

In 2025, Kotsonis took video footage while he cut off a court-ordered ankle monitoring bracelet on his leg then posted the clip on Facebook.

He will be arraigned this week on charges related to the May 9th incident.

(IMAGE: A photo of vehicular homicide suspect Steven Kotsonis from January of 2025 / Facebook – S. Kotsonis)