ASAP of Anderson and police departments in Anderson County have formed a partnership to take back expired or unused medicines on Saturday.
It’s part of the 2019 Drug Enforcement Administration Rx Drug Take Back Day.
“Community members can bring their expired or unused medicines to one of the Anderson County Take Back locations anytime between 10 a.m. and 2 p.m. this Saturday,” a press release said.
[Read more…]
Christy Viola Comer, 38, of Rocky Top, has been charged with three counts of first-degree murder in the death of J.C. Copeland, an 83-year-old man, during an alleged robbery in August. Comer, left, is pictured above during a preliminary hearing in Anderson County General Sessions Court in Clinton on Tuesday, Jan. 22, 2019. At right is defense attorney Leslie Hunt. (Photo by John Huotari/Oak Ridge Today)
A Rocky Top woman has been charged with three counts of first-degree murder in the death of an 83-year-old man during an alleged robbery in August.
Christy Viola Comer, 38, faces one count of first-degree murder for the premeditated and intentional killing of J.C. Copeland, according to an indictment filed by the Anderson County Grand Jury in Clinton on March 5.
Comer faces two more charges of first-degree murder for allegedly killing Copeland while committing two other crimes, aggravated robbery and aggravated burglary, according to the indictment.
The five-count indictment also charged Comer with those two other crimes, aggravated robbery and aggravated burglary. Comer took Copeland’s property violently through the use of a deadly weapon, and she entered Copeland’s home without permission, intending to commit a felony, according to the indictment.
Comer has an arraignment scheduled for the five felony charges on March 29 in Anderson County Criminal Court in Clinton. [Read more…]
CLINTON—The defendant in a criminal homicide case in Rocky Top in August had planned to rob the 83-year-old man who died because “it would be easy,” according to court testimony Tuesday.
The body of the victim, J.C. Copeland, who has been described as a “sweet old man,” was found partially wrapped in a pink blanket underneath a porch at a mobile home on Jacksboro Avenue on August 31, according to Tennessee Bureau of Investigation Agent John Hannon. Copeland is believed to have been strangled until he died, according to court records. There was white rope around Copeland’s neck and other parts of his body, including his wrists and ankles, Hannon testified during a preliminary hearing in Anderson County General Sessions Court in Clinton on Tuesday.
Inside Copeland’s home, investigators found a fresh brown stain on the floor near his front door, white strings similar to the material found around his neck, and in one possible sign of a struggle, cigarettes on the floor, according to Hannon’s testimony. An acrylic painted press-on fingernail was found in the living room, Hannon said. It’s similar to the type of press-on fingernail that a woman might wear, Hannon said when questioned by prosecutor Emily Faye Abbott.
Outside the home, Copeland’s vehicle was missing.
The rest of this story, which you will find only on Oak Ridge Today, is available if you are a member: a subscriber, advertiser, or recent contributor to Oak Ridge Today.
Already a member? Great! Thank you! Sign in here.
Not a member? No problem! Subscribe here:
Basic
Pro
Temporary
If you prefer to send a check, you may do so by mailing one to:
Oak Ridge Today
P.O. Box 6064
Oak Ridge, TN 37831
Note: Most news stories on Oak Ridge Today are free, brought to you by Oak Ridge Today with help from our advertisers, sponsors, and subscribers. Some are considered premium content. This story is premium content. Premium content can include in-depth, investigative, and exclusive stories.
Christy Viola Comer
The Rocky Top woman charged with homicide last week admitted stealing from an 83-year-old man who was believed to have been strangled at his home on Friday, according to Anderson County court records.
The body of J.C. Copeland was found outside of his home in the 600 block of Jacksboro Avenue in Rocky Top on Friday morning, authorities said last week.
Agents from the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation started investigating at the request of Seventh Judicial District Attorney General Dave Clark and with help from the Rocky Top Police Department, Anderson County Sheriff’s Department, and Seventh Judicial District Crime Task Force.
“During the course of the investigation, authorities developed information leading to Comer as an individual responsible for Copeland’s death,” the TBI said in a press release over the weekend.
An affidavit filed in Anderson County General Sessions Court in Clinton said Christy Viola Comer, 37, who has been charged with criminal homicide, conspired to participate in the robbery and killing of Copeland. Copeland is believed to have been strangled to death, the affidavit said. [Read more…]
Christy Viola Comer
Note: This story was updated at 1:20 p.m. September 3.
A Rocky Top woman has been arrested and charged with homicide in the death of an 83-year-old man, state authorities said.
Christy Viola Comer, 37, was arrested by special agents from the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation, with help from several local law enforcement agencies, a TBI press release said.
On Friday morning, authorities found the body of J.C. Copeland outside of his home in the 600 block of Jacksboro Avenue in Rocky Top. TBI agents started investigating at the request of Seventh Judicial District Attorney General Dave Clark and with help from the Rocky Top Police Department, Anderson County Sheriff’s Department, and Seventh Judicial District Crime Task Force. [Read more…]
You can get rid of unwanted, expired, and unused prescription medications, along with other medicines, in Clinton, Oak Ridge, and Rocky Top today (Saturday, April 28).
Anderson County is participating in the 2018 DEA Rx Drug Take Back Day, a press release said. The DEA is the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration.
Organizations involved in the Drug Take Back Day are ASAP of Anderson, Clinton Police Department, Oak Ridge Police Department, and Rocky Top Police Department.
Community members can bring their expired or unused medicines to one of the Anderson County Take Back locations anytime between 10 a.m. and 2 p.m. Saturday. Drive-through collections sites will be located at the police departments listed below. Each department will be set-up outside in their respective parking lots to receive the expired or unused medicines. [Read more…]
A group of Anderson County residents was part of an alleged methamphetamine distribution ring that involved 44 people and a conspiracy to distribute 50 grams or more of methamphetamine in East Tennessee and elsewhere, federal officials said Monday.
A 30-count indictment was returned against the 44 people by a federal grand jury in Greeneville in East Tennessee on January 9. Among those indicted were nine residents of Clinton, Oliver Springs, Powell, and Rocky Top, according to a press release from the U.S. Department of Justice’s Eastern District of Tennessee on Monday. There were also four Knoxville residents indicted and a dozen in Bristol and Kingsport in upper East Tennessee, among other defendants in Tennessee, Georgia, and Virginia.
Anderson County Sheriff’s Department, Clinton Police Department, Oak Ridge Police Department, Oliver Springs Police Department, and Seventh Judicial District Crime Task Force in Anderson County were among the agencies that helped with the investigation, the press release said.
Here are the people that were indicted in the alleged methamphetamine distribution conspiracy: [Read more…]
The Oak Ridge City Council agreed on Monday, April 10, 2017, to contribute $30,000 per year for five years to continue operating Anderson County General Sessions Court in Oak Ridge. The interior of the current courthouse on Bus Terminal Road is pictured above. (Photo by John Huotari/Oak Ridge Today)
The Oak Ridge City Council agreed on Monday to contribute $30,000 per year for five years to continue operating Anderson County General Sessions Court in Oak Ridge.
The money will be used for court operations and capital costs for Anderson County General Sessions Court, Division II, in Oak Ridge.
Council approved the funding in a 6-0 vote, with Council member Hans Vogel absent.
The city and the Oak Ridge City Council have supporting having the General Sessions Court in Oak Ridge since it started in 1993, according to City Manager Mark Watson.
“We believe that it is important to have that here,” Watson said. “It does save us a little bit of time.” [Read more…]
The 18-month lease on the Anderson County General Sessions Court, Division II, on Bus Terminal Road in Oak Ridge expires in June, and Anderson County commissioners are taking steps to move the court to a county-owned building on Emory Valley Road. The interior of the courthouse on Bus Terminal Road is pictured above. (Photo by John Huotari/Oak Ridge Today)
The Oak Ridge City Council on Monday will consider approving $30,000 in funding per year for five years for the Anderson County General Sessions Court, Division II, in Oak Ridge.
The money would be used for court operations and capital costs. Council will consider the funding during its regular meeting at 7 p.m. Monday, April 10, in the Oak Ridge Municipal Building Courtroom.
Anderson County commissioners have cited the expected Oak Ridge contribution in their discussions of keeping the court in Oak Ridge and moving it from a private building on Bus Terminal Road to a county-owed building on Emory Valley Road.
The City of Oak Ridge and the Oak Ridge City Council have supported having the General Sessions Court in Oak Ridge since its start on February 1, 1993, City Manager Mark Watson said in an April 4 memo to Council members. [Read more…]
Twenty law enforcement personnel graduated from Crisis Intervention Team, or CIT, training on March 10, 2017. The graduates represented Anderson County Sheriff’s Department, Oak Ridge Police Department, Rocky Top Police Department, Anderson County Corrections Office, and Blount Memorial Security. (Submitted photo)
Twenty law enforcement personnel graduated from Crisis Intervention Team, or CIT, training on March 10. The graduates represented Anderson County Sheriff’s Department, Oak Ridge Police Department, Rocky Top Police Department, Anderson County Corrections Office, and Blount Memorial Security.
CIT is an innovative first-responder model of police-based crisis intervention with community, health care, and advocacy partnerships. CIT provides 40 hours of specialized training for problem solving and de-escalating crisis situations with individuals who have a mental illness. Studies show it also improves the safety of patrol officers, consumers, family members, and citizens within the community, a press release said.
“Thanks to the partnership between the Oak Ridge City Police Department, Anderson County Sheriff’s Department, Ridgeview Behavioral Health, NAMI Oak Ridge, the Mental Health Association of East Tennessee, and other community health advocates, our community has better equipped itself with first responders who have an effective set of communication and problem solving skills,” Oak Ridge Police Department Chief James Akagi said in his opening remarks.
So far, the East Tennessee Crisis Intervention Team has trained more than 180 law enforcement personnel, the press release said. [Read more…]
Steven Wayne Rice
A Rocky Top man was indicted on an attempted first-degree murder charge this month in a shooting that allegedly involved his wife.
Steven Wayne Rice, 38, has also been indicted on a charge of aggravated assault with a weapon.
Rice was indicted by the Anderson County Grand Jury on March 7. He is scheduled to be arraigned in Anderson County Circuit and Criminal Court in Clinton on Friday.
He is accused of trying to kill Amy Rice, who is identified as his wife in earlier arrest warrants, on August 30, 2015.
Rice had initially been charged with attempted first-degree murder and reckless endangerment. Those charges were waived from Anderson County General Sessions Court in Oak Ridge to the Anderson County Grand Jury on September 15, 2016.
Oak Ridge Today has previously reported that Rice had threatened Amy Rice with a pistol and fired it when three other people in the home tackled him and took away the gun. [Read more…]
Anderson County officials are taking steps to move General Sessions Court in Oak Ridge from a privately owned building on Bus Terminal Road, pictured above, to a county-owned building on Emory Valley Road. (File photo by John Huotari/Oak Ridge Today)
Note: This story was updated at 12:50 p.m.
Anderson County officials are taking steps to move General Sessions Court in Oak Ridge from a privately owned building on Bus Terminal Road to a county-owned building on Emory Valley Road.
An 18-month lease on the current privately owned building, where the court has been since 2009, expires in June, officials said Wednesday.
Renovations are planned at the county-owned building on Emory Valley Road before the court moves there. Bid packages for the renovation work could go out to contractors this week, and the bid could be awarded in mid-April, said Anderson County Commissioner Phil Yager, one of two commissioners who represent District 8 in Oak Ridge.
The renovation work could take two to three months, Yager said. Michael Brady Inc., a Knoxville architectural firm helping Anderson County, has estimated the renovations could cost around $300,000. [Read more…]
