A 32-year-old Tennessee woman fatally shot her two young sons and 88-year-old grandmother before killing herself in a horrific quadruple murder-suicide, authorities said.
Deputies with the Humphreys County Sheriff’s Office discovered the four bodies during a welfare check at a home in Waverly on Friday morning, with all of them suffering gunshot wounds, authorities said.
The dead were identified as Arius Thompson, 4, Isaiah Johnson, 13, Evelyn Johnson, 88, and Heather Thompson, 32.
Preliminary evidence indicates that Heather — who was estranged from the boys’ dad — killed the three victims before herself, authorities said.
Sheriff Chris Davis said investigators found no sign of forced entry and believe no one else was involved.
He said Evelyn was Heather’s grandmother.
The sheriff said there had been no prior domestic-violence or mental health-related calls to the residence and declined to release a possible motive as the investigation continued.
Davis grew emotional when addressing reporters, telling WSMV-TV that he knew the family.
Jeremiah Thompson lost both his sons in the horror.Facebook/Brian Thompson
“Here again, small-town America. Here again, I know the families. So, we’re going to do right by them,” he said.
“We’re going to respect them. We’re going to do right by them.”
The sheriff’s office is being assisted by the state’s Bureau of Investigation.
Jeremiah Thompson later poured out his grief on social media, writing that it “shattered” him to lose his two sons and calling the boys “just babies.”
The family’s home sits along East Little Richland Road, a rural stretch of Waverly, Tenn.WSMV
Thompson, an Albuquerque, NM, resident who identified himself on Facebook as a sandwich maker at Subway, also launched a GoFundMe campaign to help bring the children “back home to New Mexico from Tennessee.”
As of Sunday morning, the campaign raised nearly $11,000 — more than two-thirds of the way toward his goal of $16,000.
The small, tight-knit community of Waverly has been battered by repeated tragedy in recent years.
Deputies with the Humphreys County Sheriff’s Office discovered the four bodies during a welfare check at the home Friday morning.WSMV
The family’s home sits along East Little Richland Road, a rural stretch that lies in a flood-prone area and was hit hard by a catastrophic August 2021 flash flood.
The disaster killed 20 people and wiped out homes and businesses across the town, leaving scars that many residents say have yet to fully heal.
More recently, the county was rocked again when an explosion ripped through an Accurate Energetic Systems plant near the Humphreys–Hickman county line, killing 16 people in one of the deadliest industrial accidents in state history.
If you are struggling with suicidal thoughts or are experiencing a mental health crisis and live in New York City, you can call 1-888-NYC-WELL for free and confidential crisis counseling. If you live outside the five boroughs, you can dial the 24/7 National Suicide Prevention hotline at 988 or go to SuicidePreventionLifeline.org.