Overview
- Deputies conducting a Jan. 2 welfare check found four family members dead of gunshot wounds inside a Waverly home.
- Authorities identified the deceased as Heather Thompson, 32; her sons, Isaiah Johnson, 13, and Arius Thompson, 4; and her grandmother, Evelyn Johnson, 88.
- Sheriff Chris Davis said preliminary evidence indicates Thompson killed the three relatives before fatally shooting herself, and officials have not released a motive.
- Investigators report no forced entry, no prior domestic-violence or mental-health calls tied to the residence, and no ongoing threat to the community as the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation assists.
- The boys’ father, Jeremiah (Biah) Thompson, who lives in New Mexico, launched a GoFundMe to return his sons home, while local schools prepared counseling support for students.