Knoxville, TN (WOKI) A man is facing several charges after leading Knoxville Police Department officers on a chase down Chapman Highway Sunday afternoon.
KPD officials say officers responded to a suspicious vehicle off Chapman Highway around 5:00 p.m. Sunday to find 39-year-old Jerad Morrell and 35-year-old Stephanie Epperson who reportedly told the officers there was a gun in their van but that they did not know where it was.
Jerad Morrell, 39 (Courtesy: JIMS)
Officers asked them to step out of the van; however, Morrell refused to comply and drove away from the scene, reportedly striking an officer in the process.
Morrell lead police on a chase south on Chapman Highway before crashing into another car and eventually being caught by officers while fleeing on foot.
The driver of the vehicle that was hit was taken to UT Medical Center to receive treatment for non-life-threatening injuries, according to KPD. A KPD officer was also treated for injuries sustained during the foot pursuit.
Police say Morrell had a loaded handgun, suspected crack cocaine and 18 computers and phones in his car; he is charged with multiple felonies, including felony evading arrest.
Epperson was charged with schedule II drugs and possession of drug paraphernalia.
The victim of the April 5th homicide at 3206 Gilbert Lane has been identified as Danishka Sibaja Mejia, 22 of Knoxville.
One day prior to her death, on April 4, Mejia reported that she was the victim of a sexual assault at a home in the 600 block of Walker Street in West Knoxville, naming 39-year-old Latawyne Osborne as the suspect.
On April 5, while officers were on scene investigating Mejia’s death, Osborne arrived at the UT Medical Center to receive treatment for non-life-threatening gunshots wounds. Upon his release, Osborne was questioned by Homicide Unit detectives.
After continued investigation, Osborne was charged with rape, stemming from Mejia’s April 4th report.
Homicide Unit detectives questioned Osborne in reference to Mejia’s death. The investigation into her death remains ongoing at this time.
Osborne remains in custody at the Roger D. Wilson Detention Facility.
On Friday afternoon, KPD Special Operations Squad personnel conducted a search warrant at the home where the sexual assault is alleged to have occurred on Walker Street, detaining multiple individuals for further investigation that is potentially relevant to the ongoing homicide investigation.
Country music star Morgan Wallen ends up in jail after he allegedly threw a chair from the top of a Broadway bar in Nashville.
WVLT says reports show that 30-year-old Wallen was on the roof of Chiefs Bar last night (Sunday), which is owned by fellow country music singer Eric Church, when witnesses watched him pick up a chair, throw it over the roof, and laugh about it. The rooftop of the bar sits six stories above Broadway.
Two officers with the Metro Nashville Police Department were below on Broadway, the chair landed three feet from them.
Wallen was arrested and is charged with three counts of reckless endangerment and one count of disorderly conduct.
He posted a bond of $15,250 and was released from jail.
A rare, total solar eclipse is expected to bring darkness to cities across the United States on Monday, April 8. While Knoxville is not in the path of totality, the excitement for the phenomenon is still palpable in East Tennessee.
At the peak eclipse, scientists tell WVLT News about 90% of the sun will be covered in Knoxville. However, it can cause serious or permanent eye damage if you don’t wear certified, safe glasses to view the eclipse.
“Even 1% of that sun is too much to look at with your naked eye,” said Dave Ticehurst, a volunteer NASA “eclipse ambassador” for the Knoxville region.
Breakdown of the total solar eclipse by Dave Ticehurst.(WVLT)
Be mindful that several schools in East Tennessee will close early for the solar event.
It’s almost time for another solar eclipse to pass by East Tennessee and school districts around the region are preparing for it.
As of this article’s writing, the following districts have announced they will dismiss early on April 8 for the eclipse:
Alcoa City
Anderson County
Athens City
Blount County
Campbell County
Claiborne County
Clinton City
Cocke County
Cumberland County
Grainger County
Greene County
Hamblen County
Hancock County
Hawkins County
Knox County
Lenoir City
Loudon County
Maryville City
Oak Ridge
Roane County
Scott County
Sevier County
Tennessee School for the Deaf
Union County
The following districts told WVLT News they will be moving to virtual learning on April 8:
McMinn County
Monroe County
Morgan County
The following districts told WVLT News they will be closed on April 8 for the eclipse:
Oneida City
The following districts said they are not planning to close or dismiss early for the eclipse:
Jefferson County
WVLT News has reached out but not received word from the following districts:
Fentress County
Newport
The eclipse will pass by on April 8, allowing people to see the sun disappear briefly behind the moon, creating an eerie mid-day darkness.
It will also reveal the sun’s corona, or the outermost part of its atmosphere, which is usually obscured by its brightness.
Of course, one should never look directly at the sun, even partially obscured, and one should avoid looking at it through tools like binoculars or other such gadgets without a special solar filter. Doing so risks severe eye damage.
NASA has several other tips for how to experience a solar eclipse safely.
After this eclipse, there will be quite a wait for the next one. The National Park Service said the next annular, or ring of fire, eclipse will happen in North America in 2041, and the next total one will occur in 2044.
Fentress County, TN (WOKI) The case of a Fentress County mother and father accused of abusing their adopted children was moved to the grand jury Thursday, April 4.
Jessica and Jason Klimp are suspected of abusing two of their four adopted children. One of those children, who is 12 years old, reportedly appeared so malnourished in February that doctors initially thought she was six years old.
According to court records, the couple is also accused of making the two children sleep in totes in their home’s basement as punishment for wetting the bed.
The Klimps are charged with aggravated child abuse, neglect or endangerment.
The grand jury is slated to meet next on April 18.
Maryville, TN (WOKI) Thirteen people from Blount County are indicted after an undercover investigation into methamphetamine distribution.
According to a release from the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation, the investigation was part of the 313 Initiative and focused on those trafficking illicit drugs into Blount and Knox Counties from Detroit, Michigan.
TBI says numerous search warrants were executed, resulting in the seizure of approximately five pounds of methamphetamine, more than a pound of fentanyl, cocaine and seven firearms.
Currently, eight of the 13 individuals have been arrested; all are charged with conspiracy to distribute 300 grams or more of methamphetamine.
TBI officials named the following as currently under arrest following their investigation:
Gregory Salvatore Celentano, 41, Maryville
Joseph Shane Todd, 38, Walland
Vida Elizabeth Clack, 38, Walland
Mary Faye Graham, 47, Knoxville
Matthew Clay Humphrey, 62, Maryville
Noah Olen McDowell, 42, Townsend
Seth Austin Stokes, 28, Maryville
Rashawn Maurice Jones, 30, Detroit, MI
According to the TBI, the 313 Initiative is a concerted and organized effort by numerous local, state, and federal law enforcement agencies to identify, target, and dismantle individuals and groups from the Detroit area who are bringing deadly drug combinations into Knox County and surrounding areas.
Police responding to the Duck Park area yesterday (Thursday) afternoon and say a woman, identified as Sharlotte Castillo-Wong, was driving across the tracks when the crossing’s arms came down, keeping her in the path of a Norfolk Southern train. She was struck by the train as she attempted to get out of her vehicle and she was pronounced dead at the scene.
Police say several roads and all tracks within the city’s limits will be shut down for an extended time.
A murder investigation is underway after Knoxville Police Department Homicide Unit detectives responded to a home in south Knoxville early Friday morning.
At around 1:15 a.m. on Friday, April 5, 2024, KPD officers were dispatched to a home in the 3200 block of Gilbert Lane.
Officers arrived on scene and found a 22-year-old woman dead inside the home. The cause of death is unknown at this time and pending the findings of the Regional Forensic Center autopsy. Officers also located a man and woman, both age 23, inside the home who had been shot. Neither victim’s injuries are expected to be life-threatening.
Sometime in the course of the investigation, another man, age 39, arrived at an area hospital to be treated for a non-life-threatening gunshot wound. That individual, who is a person of interest in the Gilbert Lane investigation, was treated and released. He is currently being interviewed by Homicide Unit detectives.
It is believed the entire incident occurred inside of the Gilbert Lane home, where officers found multiple spent shell casings.
The investigation remains ongoing and in the early stages. The information provided is preliminary and subject to change as the investigation progresses. Updates will be provided when available.
