Tennessee

Tennessee gas station clerk, 23, shot dead after texting pals about safety

Published

1 year ago

June 8, 2023

Tennessee gas station clerk, 23, shot dead after texting pals about safety

A 23-year-old Tennessee woman was shot dead at a convenience store where she worked the midnight shift only hours after she expressed safety concerns — and a father and son have been charged in her murder.

Tava Woodard, a clerk at the Roadrunner Market on North Broadway in Johnson City, texted friends and co-workers on June 2 about a shoplifting incident and said she wanted to find a new job, People reported.

A short time later, two masked men identified as Mark Sexton Jr., 41, and his son Mark Sexton III, 18, entered the store and stole money from her at gunpoint, WJHL reported.

“The two men then walked towards the door but as they were leaving, one of the men turned around and fired a shot from the pistol, striking Ms. Woodard,” according to an affidavit cited by the outlet.

When police arrived eight minutes later, they found her body lying on the ground.

The officers found a 9mm shell casing and two blue nitrile gloves in a nearby alley, WJHL reported. The gloves matched the ones the suspects were seen wearing in the surveillance video.

Tava Woodard, 23, was shot dead during her midnight shift. Mark Sexton Jr., 41, and his son Mark Sexton III, 18, have been charged with murder.

Facebook / Kaylee Moore

Homicide victim Tava Woodard — “I’ve gotten so many messages and phone calls from people that cared about her, that talk about how wonderful she was and what a bright light she was for them,” Tava Woodard’s mother, Melissa Jones said.

Another glove was found near the Sextons’ home about nine blocks away, according to the station.

After releasing screen grabs of the duo, police received tips that “one of the subjects appeared to be Mark Sexton Jr.,” according to an affidavit.

Workers at a nearby laundry business told investigators that Sexton Jr. and his wife had both worked there, and described garments and gloves from the store as matching those being worn by the suspects.

Police obtained a warrant and stopped a vehicle with an expired registration that the father drove off in with his wife and another person.

Suspects seen on video — Mark Sexton Jr., 41, and his son Mark Sexton III, 18, have been charged with first-degree murder.

They later discovered scrubs and other clothing at the home that matched items seen in the convenience store video, as well as blue gloves and a 9mm round bearing the same stamp as the casing located at the scene.

Sexton Jr. was charged with first-degree murder, especially aggravated robbery and driving an unregistered vehicle.

His son was charged with first-degree murder, especially aggravated robbery, possession of a firearm during commission of a dangerous felony and tampering with evidence.

Woodard’s mother, Melissa Jones, told People about how her daughter felt about working at the Roadrunner Market.

Mark Sexton Jr. is charged with first-degree murder, especially aggravated robbery and driving an unregistered vehicle.

18-year-old Mark Sexton III is charged with first-degree murder.

“She texted that she didn’t feel safe there anymore,” she said. “From what I’m hearing none of them were feeling very safe — this is all over the place so I’ll go ahead and say it. All of her co-workers have stated that the ‘panic button’ under the counter wasn’t working — and wasn’t even hooked up.”

The devastated mom said Woodard “had no chance of contacting anybody to help her” during the crime.

“What’s she going to do? Pick up her phone and make a phone call? And there’s no ‘panic button’ hooked up. What’s she supposed to do all by herself? I won’t get into specifics, but the police have told me that she was very calm, very composed, and that they were amazed at hearing how old she was and how well she maintained her composure and calmness,” Jones told the mag.

She said the family has received an outpouring of support after her daughter’s death.

“I didn’t realize how huge of an impact she had on everybody else, too,”Jones told People.

Tava Woodard holding books — Woodard recently sent her sister Addie Blazer a meme that said, “If I die, don’t you dare release a bunch of balloons. I want you to plant flowers for me, so that I can continue to grow.”

“I’ve gotten so many messages and phone calls from people that cared about her, that talk about how wonderful she was and what a bright light she was for them. She always had a smile on her face and everybody just found so much comfort in being near her. … To know that the rest of the world saw that in her is just amazing,” she said.

Woodard recently sent her 15-year-old sister Addie Blazer a meme that said, “If I die, don’t you dare release a bunch of balloons. I want you to plant flowers for me, so that I can continue to grow,” the outlet reported.

The family is asking people to plant flowers “so that we can keep her alive and keep her with us,” her mom said.

Johnson City Police Chief Billy Church told WJHL: “In my almost 30 years of law enforcement experience, this case is one of the most heartbreaking that I’ve come across.”

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Tennessee

Tennessee grant applications open to enhance security for places of worship

Published

2 hours ago

June 26, 2024

Press Room

Tennessee grant applications open to enhance security for places of worship

NASHVILLE, Tenn. (WSMV) – Applications are now open for a Tennessee grant designed to improve the safety of places of worship across the state. The Houses of Worship State Security Grant provides up to $100,000 for churches, synagogues, mosques, or temples to hire security personnel.

Michael Mann, a security consultant based in Middle Tennessee, is actively assisting local churches in applying for these funds. Mann, who also manages security at Fellowship Bible Church in Brentwood, has already answered several emails from local churches seeking guidance on the application process.

“Houses of worship — very specifically on Sundays, Wednesdays, and then some other days during the week — house a lot of people, so it’s a highly-occupied facility,” Mann said. “We do see crime, like vandalism, we see arson, we see domestic disputes, and unfortunately, sometimes there are active assailant events.”

The grant aims to help houses of worship hire off-duty police officers or security guards through licensed security services in Tennessee. Mann said he has helped at least 15 churches navigate the application process for a similar federal grant.

“The application specifically addresses or asks questions about any threats that your church or house of worship has had in the past two years,” Mann said. “Specifically, it’s going to ask things like terrorist attacks, violent crimes, manmade or natural disasters, etcetera. It’s going to also ask about vulnerabilities, and then the consequences of those vulnerabilities.”

Incidents such as a threatening phone call that led to the evacuation of a church near Chattanooga last weekend underscore the importance of these security measures. In December, Congregation Micah in Brentwood reported a threat emailed to them and other Jewish organizations to Metro Police.

“This kind of got big for us about 10 years ago, for churches. But the synagogues and Jewish houses of worship have been considering this for a while,” Mann said.

Mann said that places of worship do not have to wait for grant funds to take preventative actions.

“The ability for someone to see that you have some sort of security presence – it doesn’t have to be in uniform. It can be somebody in plainclothes,” Mann said, adding, “That is the number one deterrent.”

Grant applications are due by July 12.

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Tennessee

Tennessee election officials asking more than 14,000 voters to prove citizenship

Published

10 hours ago

June 25, 2024

Press Room

Tennessee election officials asking more than 14,000 voters to prove citizenship

NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP) — Tennessee’s top election office has sent letters to more than 14,000 registered voters asking them to prove their citizenship, a move that alarmed voting rights advocates as possible intimidation.

The letters, dated June 13, warned that it is illegal in Tennessee for noncitizens to vote and provided instructions on how to update voter information. The list was developed after comparing voter rolls with data from the state Department of Safety and Homeland Security, said Doug Kufner, spokesperson for the Secretary of State’s office, in a statement Tuesday.

Kufner described the data from the state’s homeland security department as a “snapshot” of a person’s first interaction with that agency. Some may not have been U.S. citizens when they obtained a driver’s license or ID card but have since been naturalized and “likely did not update their records,” he said.

“Accurate voter rolls are a vital component to ensuring election integrity, and Tennessee law makes it clear that only eligible voters are allowed to participate in Tennessee elections,” Kufner said.

The letter does not, however, reveal what would happen to those who do not update their records — including whether people who fail to respond will be purged from the voter rolls. Kufner did not immediately respond to an email seeking clarity on if voters were at risk of being removed.

Instead, the letter contains warnings that illegal voting is a felony and carries penalties of up to two years in prison.

Voting rights advocates began raising the alarm after photos of the letter started circulating on social media. Democrats have long criticized the Secretary of State’s office for its stances on voting issues in the Republican-dominant state.

“The fact legal citizens of the United States and residents of Tennessee are being accused of not being eligible to vote is an affront to democracy,” said state Rep. Jason Powell, a Democrat from Nashville, in a statement. “These fine Tennesseans are being burdened with re-proving their own voter eligibility and threatened with imprisonment in a scare tactic reminiscent of Jim Crow laws.”

Powel and fellow Democratic Rep. John Ray Clemmons on Tuesday urged Attorney General Jonathan Skrmetti to investigate the issue.

Democratic Rep. Gloria Johnson, a Democrat from Knoxville, said she was informed that one of the letter recipients included a “respected scientist in Oak Ridge” who had become a citizen and registered to vote in 2022.

“Maybe the state should verify citizenship with the federal government before sending threatening/intimidating letters to new citizens,” Johnson posted on X, the platform formerly known as Twitter.

Other leaders encouraged those who received a letter to reach out to the American Civil Liberties Union of Tennessee for possible legal resources.

The effort bears some resemblance to the rollout of a sweeping Texas voting law passed in 2021, in which thousands of Texans — including some U.S. citizens — received letters saying they have been flagged as potential noncitizens who could be kicked off voting rolls.

Texas officials had just settled a lawsuit in 2019 after a prior search for ineligible voters flagged nearly 100,000 registered voters but wrongly captured naturalized citizens. A federal judge who halted the search the month after it began noted that only about 80 people to that point had been identified as potentially ineligible to vote.

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Tennessee

Tennessee Titans’ revamped roster still doesn’t impress ESPN analysts in starter rankings

Published

17 hours ago

June 25, 2024

Press Room

Tennessee Titans’ revamped roster still doesn’t impress ESPN analysts in starter rankings

ESPN NFL analysts Mike Clay, Aaron Schatz and Seth Walder ranked every projected starting lineup in the NFL from best to worst on Tuesday, slotting the Tennessee Titans among the worst rosters in the league.

Clay, Schatz and Walder rank the Titans with the 25th-best unit in the league heading into the 2024 regular season, ahead of only the Las Vegas Raiders, New England Patriots and Denver Broncos among AFC teams. The Titans’ next-closest division rival is the Indianapolis Colts, slotted at No. 21, while their other AFC South foes from Jacksonville and Houston are both ranked in the top half of the league.

The trio of ESPN analysts rank wide receiver as the Titans’ biggest strength heading into 2024, raving about the revamped unit built around DeAndre Hopkins, Calvin Ridley and Tyler Boyd. They also identify cornerback L’Jarius Sneed as the “x-factor” for 2024 since cornerback is such a difficult position to project year-over-year success carry over from and pick off-ball linebacker as the Titans’ biggest area of weakness, arguing that Kenneth Murray II is a downgrade from Azeez Al-Shaair.

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ESPN’s projected starting lineup for the Titans doesn’t match up with The Tennessean’s observations from OTAs and minicamp in some areas. In particular, ESPN still lists offensive lineman Dillon Radunz as a starting right tackle despite the fact that Radunz talked about working exclusively as a guard this spring and lists veteran Daniel Brunskill as the starting right guard even though Brunskill talked about practicing almost exclusively as a center in OTAs.

The Titans return for training camp practices on July 23.

Tennessee Titans schedule 2024

Preseason Week 1 (Aug. 10): vs. San Francisco 49ers
Preseason Week 2 (Aug. 17): vs. Seattle Seahawks
Preseason Week 3 (Aug. 25): at New Orleans Saints
Week 1 (Sept. 8): at Chicago Bears
Week 2 (Sept. 15): vs. New York Jets
Week 3 (Sept. 22): vs. Green Bay Packers
Week 4 (Sept. 30): at Miami Dolphins
Week 5: Open date
Week 6 (Oct. 13): vs. Indianapolis Colts
Week 7 (Oct. 20): at Buffalo Bills
Week 8 (Oct. 27): at Detroit Lions
Week 9 (Nov. 3): vs. New England Patriots
Week 10 (Nov. 10): at Los Angeles Chargers
Week 11 (Nov. 17): vs. Minnesota Vikings
Week 12 (Nov. 24): at Houston Texans
Week 13 (Dec. 1): at Washington Commanders
Week 14 (Dec. 8): vs. Jacksonville Jaguars
Week 15 (Dec. 15): vs. Cincinnati Bengals
Week 16 (Dec. 22): at Indianapolis Colts
Week 17 (Dec. 29): at Jacksonville Jaguars
Week 18 (TBD): vs. Houston Texans

Nick Suss is the Titans beat writer for The Tennessean. Contact Nick at nsuss@gannett.com. Follow Nick on X, the platform formerly called Twitter, @nicksuss.

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