Tennessee
Who are the Tennessee plant explosion victims? 16 people presumed dead in factory explosion
A small Tennessee county is in mourning after an explosion at an ammunition processing plant last week is believed to have killed everyone who was inside.
The blast Friday was reported at Accurate Energetic Systems near McEwen, Tennessee, at around 7:45 a.m., leaving behind only scattered debris. Officials reported a day after the explosion that there were no survivors, adding that 16 people who were in the privately owned facility were unaccounted for.
A candlelight vigil was held Sunday outside the Humphreys County Courthouse to mourn the 16 presumed victims of the blast. Crowds of people could be seen paying their respects with lit candles.
On Monday, a list of the victims was released: Jason Adams, Erick Anderson, Billy Baker, Adam Boatman, Christopher Clark, Mindy Clifton, James Cook, Reyna Gillahan, LaTeisha Mays, Jeremy Moore, Melinda Rainey, Melissa Stanford, Trenton Stewart, Rachel Woodall, Steven Wright and Donald Yowell.
As the cause of the blast remains under investigation, more is coming to light about the victims.
Trenton Stewart
Stewart, 25, is missing and presumed dead as a result of the Friday morning explosion.
His fiancée, Katy Stover, described him as the best man she has ever met.
“I don’t know what I can even say to make anyone understand the man he was,” Stover wrote in a Facebook post. “He made me laugh until I couldn’t breathe, and he was truly my best friend, my soulmate, and my person.”
According to Stewart’s Facebook page, he was a pastor at a church in Waverly, Tennessee. In a post, he said that his goal as a pastor “isn’t to have the biggest crowd, or to be the most perfect person, but to show the love of Christ in whatever way possible.”
The last livestream from one of his sermons was posted on Oct. 5.
LaTeisha Mays
Mays, 26, is unaccounted for, her family told NBC affiliate WSMV. She worked for Accurate Energetic Systems for eight months.
Her family described her as “the glue to our family.”
Steven Wright
Wright’s wife, Melinda, is mourning her husband.
“How could I have known that 24 hours ago I would have watched those taillights disappear for the last time!” she posted to her Facebook account the day after the explosion.
The couple shared two boys.
Rachel Woodall
Woodall was a production operator at Accurate Energetic Systems, according to her Facebook profile.
Her boyfriend, Nathan Birchard, remembered her as his angel.
“You brought color into my world that was otherwise dark and grey,” he wrote in a Facebook post. “You made me a better man and always made me wanna strive to be better. We had dreams and a future that we was planning just to be taken away in a instant.”
Birchard said Woodall “touched so many lives.”
“You never would’ve realized the impact you have made on those around you,” he wrote.
Christopher Clark
Clark’s sister, Peggy Wood, said he was known as “Buck.”
“He never met a stranger and was loved by everyone,” Wood told NBC News. “He is greatly missed by his family. This is a loss we will never get over.”
Clark was the youngest of all his siblings, his sister said.
“There was 9 years between us,” she said. “We were the ‘babies’ out of nine.”
Melissa Stanford
Stanford was a mother, daughter, sister and aunt, according to her niece, Brittany Kirouac.
Kirouac said the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation spoke to families of the victims on the day of the blast and told them “there was a zero percent chance of survival.”
“Keep our family in your prayers, send good vibes, whatever you do,” Kirouac wrote in a Facebook post.
Jeremy Moore
On Friday, Moore’s mother, Ava Hinson, asked for prayers for her son after hearing there had been an explosion at his workplace.
She described her son, who lived near her, as “sweet as sugar.”
“I call him ‘my little boy’ and he would tell you that he was my little boy and he was about 6′ 7″ and weighs about 300 pounds,” Hinson told NBC News on Saturday.
Moore had been working in the munitions industry for almost 19 years, his father, Gary Moore, said. On the day of the blast, he dropped his daughter off at his mother’s house and went to work as he normally would.
“At 7:45 a.m., the day turned very abnormal, and here we are,” Gary Moore said.
Hinson went to visit her son’s house after hearing about the blast, hopeful that she would find him.
“And it hit me, just a few minutes ago, that he won’t be back,” Hinson said.
Moore would have turned 38 on Oct. 20.
Jason Adams
Adams and his wife, Valerie, just celebrated their 26th wedding anniversary, she said in a Facebook post.
“How am I suppose to live without my soulmate, love of my life and my best friend,” she wrote.
Billy Baker
Baker’s cousin, Emily Tate, announced his death on Facebook the day after the blast.
“Billy always seemed big and sturdy — larger than life,” Tate wrote. “He always had a smile and a hug for me, his ‘little cuz.’”
Tate asked for prayers for his wife, sons and grandchildren.
Mindy Clifton
A friend of Clifton’s remembered her as “a big personality wrapped around a caring heart,” while another said she took him under her wing at the start of his career in the corrections industry.
“When we last spoke, I told you ‘I Love you’ and your response was…’I love you too brother,’ so i have absolutely no regrets,” JayVion Mcvadian wrote.
Reyna Gillahan
Gillahan’s daughter, Rosalina, said her mother’s dream was to pay off her home.
“She was a beautiful soul — loving, strong, and always thinking of others before herself,” Rosalina Gillahan wrote in a Facebook post.
Donald Yowell
A friend of Yowell’s said, “his love, his laughter, and his hugs were all larger than life.”
Ashlee Oliver asked for prayers for his family and loved ones, and advised everyone to live life the way he did.
“And in honor of Don… be kind, forgive easily, and love well,” Oliver wrote in a Facebook post. “All things he did perfectly.”
Melinda Rainey
Rainey was passionate about WWE, according to her nephew’s wife, Kimberly Thomas-Thorn.
“She was one of the sweetest, kindest people I’ve met,” she wrote. “I’m going to miss her talking about WWE wrestling and aggravating Josh about TN vs BAMA.”
Tennessee
Man wanted for double homicide in Georgia captured in Tennessee
ROBERTSON COUNTY, Tenn. — A man wanted for a double homicide out of Georgia is arrested in Middle Tennessee.
Two people were discovered shot in a vehicle near Harbins Road and Harbins Point in Lilburn, Georgia, just after 10 p.m. Friday night, said the Gwinnett County Police Department. Those two individuals died.
A man was also found injured on Windscape Village Lane in Norcross, GA, according to police. They determined the two scenes were related.
Police learned through their investigation that the suspect, 54-year-old Javier Aragon Ruiz, was en route to Tennessee.
Tennessee Highway Patrol troopers located Ruiz’s vehicle in Robertson County on Saturday morning and took him into custody, according to police.
Ruiz is charged by the THP with reckless driving, driving under the influence, possession of gun under the influence and a being a fugitive from justice. He is being held without bond in the Robertson County Jail.
The homicide victims will be identified by police after the next of kin is notified.
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Anyone with information in this case is asked to call GCPD detectives at 770.513.5300. Tipsters who wish to remain anonymous can call Crime Stoppers at 404.577.TIPS (8477).
Tennessee
Where to watch No. 13 Tennessee-No. 14 Illinois college basketball game tonight free livestream
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The No. 13 Tennessee Volunteers play against the No. 14 Illinois Fighting Illini in a college basketball game tonight. The matchup is scheduled to begin at 7 p.m. CT on ESPN. Fans can watch this game for free online by using the free trial offered by DirecTV. Alternatively, fans can purchase a monthly subscription offered by Fubo TV/Sling.
The Volunteers enter this matchup with a 7-2 record, but they have lost back-to-back games. In their most recent game, the Volunteers lost 62-60 against Syracuse.
In order to bounce back tonight, the Volunteers will need a great performance from their guard Ja’Kobi Gillespie. He leads the Tennessee offense in scoring this season, as he averages nearly 18 points per game.
The Fighting Illini enter this matchup with a 6-2 record, and they are coming off a 74-61 loss against UConn.
In order to win tonight’s game, the Fighting Illini will need to rely on their guard Kylan Boswell. He leads the team in points and assists this year, which highlights his offensive prowess.
Fans can watch this college basketball game for free online by using the free trial offered by DirecTV. Alternatively, fans can purchase a monthly subscription offered by Fubo TV/Sling.
Tennessee
Police responding to pit bull mauling in Tennessee find grandfather and infant dead
A grandfather and his infant granddaughter were pronounced dead after authorities in Tennessee found pit bulls mauling the 3-month-old girl, officials said.
The district attorney general’s office for Tennessee’s 14th Judicial District said in a news release Wednesday that authorities are still trying to determine the cause of death for James Alexander Smith, 50, and his granddaughter, and whether the mauling occurred after they were already dead.
The prosecutor’s office said it isn’t clear if criminal charges will be filed in the case.
The apparent attack occurred at a residential address in Tullahoma, roughly 75 miles southeast of Nashville. Responding police officers killed the dogs to stop the attack, according to the release.
“Regrettably, it was obvious that both victims were deceased,” the release states.
District Attorney Craig Northcutt said the dogs stayed at the home where the mauling occurred but it wasn’t clear whom they belonged to.
NBC affiliate WSMV of Nashville reported that the animals were among seven pit bulls that lived there.
A neighbor, Rebecca Adams, told the station that dogs routinely escaped from the family’s yard and chased other neighborhood pets. But she said she’d never seen them be aggressive toward people, the station reported.
The district attorney general’s office said investigators are examining the animals’ history and “other potential issues that may have contributed to this situation.”
According to the release, the other dogs in the home were taken by the local animal control agency.
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