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Tennessee Authorities Probe Waverly Family Deaths as Suspected Murder-Suicide

Evidence points to Heather Thompson as the shooter.

Overview

  • Deputies conducting a Jan. 2 welfare check found four people shot to death inside a Waverly home.
  • Authorities say preliminary evidence indicates Heather Thompson, 32, killed her sons Arius, 4, and Isaiah Johnson, 13, and her grandmother Evelyn Johnson, 88, before dying by suicide.
  • Sheriff Chris Davis reported no signs of forced entry and said investigators believe no one else was involved, with the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation assisting.
  • No motive has been released, and officials say there were no prior domestic-violence or mental-health calls tied to the address.
  • Thompson was a nurse practitioner at a local hospital, and the boys’ father launched a GoFundMe to bring them to New Mexico that had raised roughly $11,000 as of reporting.