The Monroe County Sheriff’s Office is investigating the drowning death of a 2-year-old girl in Tellico Plains.
First responders were dispatched to a home yesterday (Wednesday) afternoon for a drowning. Officials say some children were playing outside with their mother when she went inside for a restroom break. When she returned outside, she was searching for the children when she saw the girl floating in the pool.
She got the child out of the pool and performed CPR until first responders arrived and took over CPR until EMS arrived and took her to the Hospital, where she was pronounced dead.
Rockford, TN (WOKI) The suspect at the center of Tuesday’s shooting of two Blount County Sheriff’s Office deputies and standoff with police now faces over a dozen charges in the incident.
BCSO says 59-year-old Ronald Millsaps is charged with seven counts of aggravated assault, two counts of attempted criminal homicide, one count of especially aggravated kidnapping and four counts of reckless endangerment after firing upon law enforcement who were called to his residence on Jacob Springs Boulevard in Rockford for a domestic dispute.
Deputies Corbin Smith and Edward Walker were each shot in the leg during the exchange but have since been released from the hospital.
According to BCSO, Millsaps is in custody at the Blount County Correctional Facility on a $2.2 million bond. He is due in court on Monday, June 17.
Pensacola, FL (WOKI) The biological mother of Abigail Velez, the 16-year-old Tennessee girl who went missing in Pensacola, Florida last week, is facing charges.
Pensacola police say Crystal Hornsby was arrested for interference with child custody in St. Petersburg. She’s currently in Pinellas County Jail.
Police add that Hornsby helped Velez travel from Pensacola to St. Petersburg.
Velez is the daughter of an East Tennessee police officer. She went missing Thursday night while on vacation in Florida after last being seen at Baptist Hospital. She was found safe Tuesday.
The Knoxville City Council approves a resolution that would unlock $150,000 to nonprofits and organizations focused on revitalizing East Knoxville.
That money would be provided through a grant from the city’s African American equity restoration task force which was established by the council in 2020. The resolution will split the money among eighteen groups who applied for the grant.
Here’s how the proposal breaks that funding down:
UNNIK Academy: $25,000.00
Renaissance Creations: $15,000.00
New Direction Health Care: $20,000.00
The Women, LLC: $10,000.00
SEEED: $5,000.00
Girl Talk, Inc.: $10,000.00
East TN Freedom Schools: $10,000.00
C.O.N.N.E.C.T. Ministries: $5,000.00
Gennisi Charitable Birth Services: $5,000.00
East TN Housing Development Corp: $5,000.00
Evergreen Community Development Corp: $5,000.00
National Coalition of 100 Black Women: $5,000.00
Closer Walk Re-entry: $5,000.00
A1 Learning Connections: $5,000.00
The Bottom: $5,000.00
YoStem!: $5,000.00
Drums Up Guns Down: $5,000.00
Karate 5: $5,000
City Council also approved the first reading of a proposal that would rezone the Sunsphere as a historic building.
This would not change its base zoning classification. The Sunsphere is back open after construction was being done on its observation deck.
Community members in three Tennessee cities will have open houses to discuss their thoughts on the proposed Ridgeline Pipeline.
In April, TVA announced plans that the Kingston Fossil Plant would be converted into an energy complex consisting of natural gas, solar and battery storage.
The plans would include a 122-mile pipeline that would span across eight Tennessee Counties including Smith, Jackson, Overton, Fentress, Morgan and Roane.
There will be a meeting tonight, (Wednesday) at Cookeville High School in Cookeville from 6 – 8 p.m. central time and the final meeting is tomorrow (Thursday) from 6 p.m. to 8 p.m. central time at Trousdale Community Center in Hartsville.
Officials say the majority of the route for the proposed pipeline would be located within the existing system’s right-of-way where possible to minimize impacts to landowners and the environment.
If approved, construction would start by the fall of 2025.
UPDATE: Some good news this morning as the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation says the Endangered Child Alert for 5 year-old October Cooper out of Claiborne County has ended after the little girl was found safe.
She was with her non-custodial mother, Victoria Cooper, who is facing charges.
Claiborne County, TN (WOKI) The Tennessee Bureau of Investigation has issued an Endangered Child Alert for a Claiborne County girl.
TBI issued the alert on behalf of the Claiborne County Sheriff’s Office Tuesday for 5-year-old October Cooper.
October is described as 3′2″ tall and 50 pounds with blonde hair and brown eyes.
TBI says October is believed to be with her non-custodial mother, Victoria Cooper, who is wanted by CCSO for custodial interference.
Anyone with information regarding their whereabouts is asked to contact CCSO at 423-419-0531 or TBI at 1-800-TBI-FIND.
Updated story: 6/11/24 11:28 p.m. The Blount County Deputies injured in a shooting responding to a domestic disturbance are identified and the suspect is in custody.
The shooting happened yesterday afternoon after deputies, Edward Walker and Corbin Smith, responded to a home on Jacob Springs Road. A home officials say police were familiar with because they had responded to it before for domestic situations. An elderly woman was inside the home and she is safe.
Blount County Sheriff James Lee Berrong says the suspect, 59-year-old Ronald Reed Millsaps, fired an estimated 150-300 rounds at the deputies with a high-powered rifle. Several other county and state agencies responded to the scene to offer support to BCSO. Millsaps is facing several felony charges.
The deputies were taken to UT Medical Center with “non-life-threatening” injuries and are in stable condition.
Berrong says they were told weapons were in each room of the home and Deputies were able to rescue Deputy’s Smith and Walker while taking gunfire from Millsaps.
Emotions running high following the death of Deputy Greg McCowan in February. “This is amazing. 34 years and not have a deputy shot, and in four months have this happen,” Berrong said.
At the request of 5th Judicial District Attorney General Ryan Desmond, TBI agents are investigating the circumstances leading to an officer-involved shooting that occurred Tuesday afternoon involving deputies with the Blount County Sheriff’s Office.
Preliminary information indicates that just before 3:30 p.m., deputies with the Blount County Sheriff’s Office responded to a domestic disturbance in the 1100 block of Jacob Springs Boulevard in Rockford. For reasons still under investigation, shortly after deputies arrived on scene, shots were fired by a male subject, resulting in the deputies returning fire. During the exchange of gunfire, two deputies were struck. They were transported to a local hospital with non-life-threatening injuries. The male subject barricaded himself inside the residence but was eventually taken into custody. He was not injured during the incident.
TBI agents are working to independently determine the series of events leading to the shooting, including collecting evidence and conducting interviews. Throughout the process, investigative findings will be shared with the District Attorney General for his further review and consideration. The TBI acts solely as fact-finders in its cases and does not determine whether the actions of an officer were justified in these types of matters. That decision rests with the District Attorney General requesting TBI’s involvement.
Original Story: Rockford, TN (WOKI) A suspect is in custody after two Blount County Sheriff’s Office deputies were shot responding to a domestic call in Rockford Tuesday afternoon.
BCSO officials say the shooting happened after deputies responded to a home on Jacob Springs Boulevard around 4:00 p.m.
BCSO says at some point after arriving in Rockford, the situation escalated and shots were fired, hitting the deputies in the legs. The two BCSO deputies were taken to the University of Tennessee Medical Center with “non-life-threatening” injuries.
Officials say deputies were familiar with the home, because they had responded to it before for domestic situations.
A man in his 50’s was taken into custody following a stand-off with authorities.
Other agencies responded to the scene as well, including the Knox County Sheriff’s Office. The Tennessee Bureau of Investigation will investigate the officer-involved shooting, as is standard operating procedure for the agency.
Old Knoxville Highway was closed for several hours after the shooting but reopened just before 6:30 p.m.
Rockford, TN (WOKI) The Blount County Sheriff’s Office has responded to shots being fired on Old Knoxville Highway near Jacob Springs Road Tuesday afternoon.
They are asking motorists to please find an alternate route around the area as the roadway is shut down to traffic indefinitely.
Additionally, if you live in the area of Jacob Springs Road, authorities are advising that you stay inside your home.
Knoxville, TN (WOKI / WVLT) Zoo Knoxville curators announcing Tuesday that Kumi, a 25-year-old female Western lowland gorilla, has moved to the Scruffy City!
She’ll join a family of six other gorillas, including silverback male Bantu, females Hope, Machi, and Kowali, and juveniles Obi and Andi.
The Zoo Knoxville team is keeping a close eye on Kumi as curators say she is still getting used to the new environment.
Western lowland gorillas are considered critically endangered. Zoo Knoxville is working with zoos around the country to keep a stable population in human care.
“If we are going to protect the species, we need to ensure we have a genetically sustainable population of gorillas that are thriving in the care of AZA-accredited zoos,” said KateLyn Miller, great apes keeper. “Kumi is genetically important, and we hope to successfully introduce her to Bantu. Her wellbeing is our top priority, and our first steps are to make sure Kumi’s transition to our group here in Knoxville is a positive one done at her own pace.”
Kumi is set to make her debut this weekend at Zoo Knoxville’s Gorilla Valley habitat.
