Knoxville, TN (WOKI) A Juvenile Court Judge Thursday released the name of the teen charged with second-degree murder in the death of a 13-year-old girl in Powell.
Malakiah Lamar Harris appeared in court Thursday for the second time since the discovery of the girl’s body Tuesday afternoon.
Investigators with the Knox County Sheriff’s Office say that sometime in the early morning hours of Tuesday, Harris had used a pocket knife to stab the girl multiple times, killing her. The murder taking place in the Broadacres subdivision off Cranley Road.
Harris has a court-appointed attorney and is being held in custody pending trial. He is due back in court on October 29.
No word yet on whether prosecutors will seek to have Harris tried as an adult.
Malakiah Lamar Harris has been charged with second-degree murder. (Courtesy: WVLT)
Knoxville, TN (WOKI) A Knoxville man is facing charges for breaking into a school and stealing equipment.
According to charging documents, Richard Passmore is facing charges for burglary, theft and vandalism after he broke into the Christian Academy of Knoxville.
The report indicates that security cameras caught Passmore in the act, capturing him breaking into the school’s Christian center and loading equipment into his truck.
Passmore is also accused of spreading an “unknown liquid” across the building’s stage and damaging some server racks.
In total, the report states Passmore stole more than $5,000 worth of supplies.
Cooler temperatures mean beautiful fall leaf colors around East Tennessee.
National Park officials say that the leaves have reached their peak for fall color in the highest elevations inside the Great Smoky Mountains National Park.
Color is beginning to show more and more in the valley as well thanks to a cooler stretch of weather.
Meanwhile, leaves in the middle to lower elevations are within a week of hitting their peak.
For the plateau, leaves are nearing their peak over the next week or so.
Due to the drier weather, a lot of leaves are falling off which means color this year may be a little more muted than normal due to the lack of rain through the summer and then Hurricane Helene’s winds knocking the leaves off the trees.
Knoxville – Wednesday, October 23rd marked the halfway point (seven days of fourteen) of early voting for the November 5, 2024 Presidential and Federal/State General Election.
Through the first seven days, a total of 80,845 early votes have been cast in Knox County, with an additional 5,067 votes cast by absentee ballot and in nursing homes.
There are 336,151 registered voters (318,311 active; 17,840 inactive) in Knox County as of Wednesday, October 23, 2024.
COMPARISON TO PRIOR PRESIDENTIAL ELECTIONS AT MIDWAY POINT *
*Does not include absentee ballots
November 2024 – 80,845 (total votes cast – TBD)
November 2020 – 65,723 (total early votes cast – 153,197)
November 2016 – 66,992 (total early votes cast – 135,749)
NEW VOTERS
A total of 7,921 first-time voters through the first seven days (halfway point) of early voting.
CITY OF KNOXVILLE VOTERS VS. KNOX COUNTY VOTERS
City of Knoxville voters 24,514
Non-City of Knoxville voters 61,398
AGE INFORMATION
REGISTERED VOTERS BY AGE
Age 18 to 29 64,173
Age 30 to 44 90,364
Age 45 to 54 50,570
Age 55 + 131,044
VOTES CAST BY AGE
Age 18 to 29 6,986
Age 30 to 44 13,045
Age 45 to 54 11,803
Age 55 + 54,078
GENDER INFORMATION
REGISTERED VOTERS BY GENDER**
** Not all voter’s genders are known, as the federal voter registration form does not ask for gender.
Male 140,524
Female 165,942
Unknown 29,685
EARLY VOTES CAST BY GENDER**
** Not all voter’s genders are known, as the federal voter registration form does not ask for gender.
Male 31,572
Female 39,891
Unknown 14,449
VOTES CAST BY TENNESSEE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES DISTRICT
District 14 16,616
District 15 6,268
District 16 14,609
District 18 13,078
District 19 13,727
District 89 13,470
District 90 8,144
ABSENTEE BALLOT DEADLINE FAST APPROACHING
The deadline to request an absentee ballot is Tuesday, October 29.
Anyone wishing to vote absentee can call the Election Commission at 865-215-2480 or can download an absentee request at www.knoxvotes.org.
The teen charged with second-degree murder in the death of a 13-year-old girl in Powell is set to appear in court again today.
The 15 year-old suspect, whose identity has not been released, appeared in court yesterday and he is currently behind bars without bond and has a court-appointed attorney.
Investigators with the Knox County Sheriff’s Office say that sometime in the early morning hours of Tuesday, the boy had used a pocket knife to stab the girl multiple times, killing her.
The court has some decisions to make, the first, whether or not it will release the boy’s name which is expected to be made today.
Second, whether or not to charge the boy as an adult. As it stands, the teen would face a maximum juvenile punishment up to his 19th birthday. After that, he’d move into the adult court system.
A Dandridge man is charged with multiple counts of child sex crimes.
The Jefferson County Sheriff’s Offices says 34 year-old Kyle Brown was arrested yesterday (Wednesday) after a year-long investigation into child pornography.
He is charged with 26 counts of sexual exploitation of a minor and two counts of aggravated sexual exploitation of a minor.
Newport, TN (WOKI) Several roads in Newport are closed after a railroad trestle collapsed into the Pigeon River.
Newport Police say the trestle spanned the river, which saw major flooding when Hurricane Helene moved through East Tennessee. It marks the latest in a series of damages caused by the storm.
River Road, Liberty Alley and Jimtown Road at East Broadway are all closed.
No word if this collapse will affect Norfolk Southern’s schedule to re-open their routes.
The trestle spanned the Pigeon River, which saw major flooding when Hurricane Helene moved through East Tennessee. (Courtesy: WVLT)
Athens, TN (WOKI) UPDATE: Five children at the center of an Endangered Child Alert out of Athens are found safe.
Officials with the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation had issued the alert early Wednesday morning for the five boys saying that they may have been with their non-custodial parents.
TBI says all five children were later found safe in Georgia.
ORIGINAL STORY: The Tennessee Bureau of Investigation has issued an Endangered Child Alert for five missing children out of Athens.
The Athens Police Department says they are believed to be with their non-custodial parents, 30 y/o Kurtis Pendergrass and 30 y/o Sawana Pendergrass. Kurtis has brown eyes, brown hair, is 5’10” and weighs 180 lbs. Sawana has blue eyes, brown hair, is 5’ tall and weighs 140 lbs.
They are believed to be in a white 2018 GMC Acadia with a TN tag 521 BMMM.
If you have any information please call 1-800-TBI-FIND.
or the Athens Police Department at 423-745-3222 or 1-800-TBI-FIND with info.
One person was killed in a crash involving a motorcycle that happened on Tuesday night on Middlebrook Pike.
At around 7:40 p.m. on Tuesday, October 22, 2024, Knoxville Police Department officers responded to a crash on Middlebrook Pike at Whitehall Road. The crash involved a Suzuki motorcycle and a black Acura sedan.
Based on the investigation conducted at the scene and witness statements, it is believed that the motorcycle was traveling at a high speed on Middlebrook Pike when it collided with the passenger side of the black Acura, which was attempting to turn left into the Retreat at West Hills apartment complex parking lot.
The motorcycle driver, a 53-year-old man, was pronounced dead at the scene. The driver of the Acura sedan was transported to the UT Medical Center via AMR to be treated for injuries that are not expected to be life-threatening.
KPD crash reconstruction personnel responded to the scene and are leading the investigation.
