Oak Ridge Today

TBI investigating man’s death

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The Tennessee Bureau of Investigation is investigating the death of a 39-year-old man during an interaction with Oak Ridge police officers in the Hendrix Creek subdivision on Sunday afternoon.

Oak Ridge Police Department officers had made contact with the man, Tyler Jones, after receiving a report of a suspicious person around Heritage Drive, the TBI said. He began showing signs of distress, and medical personnel were called.

“At some point during the encounter, after medical personnel arrived, Jones became unresponsive,” the TBI said. “Officers immediately rendered aid until paramedics arrived. He was transported to a local hospital, where he was pronounced dead.”

[Read more…]

Police determine death near fitness center was a suicide

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The Oak Ridge Police Department on Sunday morning, April 22, 2018, investigated a death behind National Fitness Center in central Oak Ridge. (Photo by John Huotari/Oak Ridge Today)

The Oak Ridge Police Department on Sunday morning, April 22, 2018, investigates a death behind National Fitness Center in central Oak Ridge. (Photo by John Huotari/Oak Ridge Today)

 

The Oak Ridge Police Department has determined that the death of a female between two businesses in central Oak Ridge was a suicide.

Police responded to the parking lot of Home Depot at 175 Laboratory Road to conduct a welfare check on a person at 9:12 a.m. Sunday.

When officers arrived, they found Leah Michelle Ray, 49, of Oak Ridge, had died in a grassy area between Home Depot and the National Fitness Center, a press release said.

The Oak Ridge Police Department Criminal Investigations Division and Oak Ridge Fire Department were called to the scene to help. So was the Knox County Medical Examiner’s Office. [Read more…]

Police investigate death behind fitness center

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The Oak Ridge Police Department on Sunday morning, April 22, 2018, investigated a death behind National Fitness Center in central Oak Ridge. (Photo by John Huotari/Oak Ridge Today)

The Oak Ridge Police Department on Sunday morning, April 22, 2018, investigated a death behind National Fitness Center in central Oak Ridge. (Photo by John Huotari/Oak Ridge Today)

 

The Oak Ridge Police Department on Sunday morning investigated a death behind a fitness center in central Oak Ridge.

Police received a call to perform a welfare check at about 9:11 a.m. Sunday behind the National Fitness Center, near Home Depot. They found a dead adult. The name of the person has not been released, pending family notification.

Investigators hadn’t determined Sunday morning whether the death was a homicide or suicide. [Read more…]

TBI investigating death of Anderson County inmate

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Princess Wyomina Shifflett

Princess Wyomina Shifflett

 

The Tennessee Bureau of Investigation is investigating the death of an Anderson County inmate last week, officials said Monday.

The TBI was asked to investigate the death of Princess Wyomina Shifflett, 58, by Anderson County District Attorney General Dave Clark on Thursday, officials said.

Shifflett died at the Anderson County Detention Facility in Clinton, officials said.

Shifflett had some sort of medical emergency, and emergency medical services were called to take her to a medical center, where she died, TBI spokesperson Susan Niland said in an email. [Read more…]

Clinton police investigating man’s death

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Information from WYSH Radio

According to a police report on file at the Clinton Police Department, investigators are looking into the death of a 36-year-old Clinton man.

The incident occurred on December 27 when Clinton Police were called to a home on Lee Lane and found 36-year-old Jason Sharp unconscious on the floor, bleeding from his mouth and not breathing.

Despite the efforts of first responders, Sharp died shortly after arriving at Methodist Medical Center. [Read more…]

Heitman family wants death investigation re-opened

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Alexander John Heitman

Alexander John Heitman

Note: This story was last updated at 11:45 a.m. Dec. 11.

The family of a former Oak Ridge school employee found dead of a shotgun wound in Cocke County more than three years ago wants authorities there to reopen the investigation of their son’s death, a press release said.

The family of Alexander “Alex” J. Heitman has also hired an attorney, retired Assistant U.S. Attorney Hugh B. Ward Jr. of Knoxville law firm Young Williams. Ward has Oak Ridge connections, serving on several local boards and as the city’s administrative hearing officer.

Heitman’s family asked for the death investigation to be re-opened after Cocke County Circuit Court Judge Ben Hooper on Monday ordered Coroner Terry Jarnigan to stay away from crime scenes and dead bodies in Cocke County. The Newport Plain Talk reported that Jarnigan allegedly compromised a corpse he was told would be sent for an autopsy in November.

WBIR-TV in Knoxville reported that Jarnigan resigned Tuesday. The Heitmans said the former county coroner oversaw their son’s crime scene.

The Plain Talk reported in June that the District Attorney’s office in Newport said it saw no reason to re-open the investigation of Heitman’s death, which has been ruled a suicide. [Read more…]

Health Night on the Town lecture to look at end of life

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Methodist Medical Center Entrance at Night

The main entrance to Methodist Medical Center in Oak Ridge is pictured above at night. (Photo courtesy Covenant Health)

Death, you might say, is a fact of life. It’s something we all must face, and while it may not do to dwell on death, it can benefit all of us to understand it, accept it, and plan for it—for both ourselves and our loved ones.

That’s the goal of the Ethics Committee at Methodist Medical Center of Oak Ridge as they present “Preparing for End of Life” at August’s Health Night on the Town lecture. The Ethics Committee is comprised of physicians and other experts from the medical field who will share their professional and personal experiences. The program will discuss the biology of death, the psycho-social aspects of death, and the practical aspects of death, such as advance directives and other legal documents.

Health Night on the Town on will take place Tuesday, August 26, at 7 p.m. in the Ridge Conference Room of Methodist Medical Center located at 990 Oak Ridge Turnpike. The program will be led by members of the Ethics Committee at Methodist Medical Center, which includes members of Methodist’s medical staff: family practice physician and Ethics Committee chair Jose Malagon, MD; orthopedic surgeon Randall Robbins, MD; anesthesiologist Stephanie Smith, MD; and Methodist employees: chaplain Jack Sills, clinical social worker Julie Emig, and risk manager Lisa Chadwick.

Health Night is a free medical lecture series and is open to the public. For more information about Health Night on the Town, call (865) 835-4662.

Fund forming to help family after student’s death as counselors meet with classmates

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Linden Elementary School

Linden Elementary School is pictured above.

Counselors met with students at Linden Elementary School this morning, and a parent-teacher organization is forming a fund to accept donations to help the family of a third-grader who died Tuesday, an official said.

Oak Ridge Schools Superintendent Bruce Borchers said there were five counselors from elementary and middle schools, and the school psychologist who serves Linden, at the west-end elementary school this morning.

“They have met with students who appeared upset or anxious,” Borchers said in a Wednesday afternoon e-mail. “I will tell you, though, it has been remarkably calm in my opinion.”

The boy was found unresponsive on a school bus on Wilberforce Avenue at about 4:10 p.m. Tuesday. An ambulance took him to Methodist Medical Center, where he was pronounced dead. The boy has not been identified, and the cause of his death has not been determined. [Read more…]

Anderson man arrested for death of woman who fell from van

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James Richard Wylie

James Richard Wylie

An Anderson County man indicted for homicide last week in the death of a Lake City woman who allegedly fell from his vehicle last year was arrested today, authorities said.

An investigation showed that Martha Rose McGhee, 33, of Lake City, fell out of a vehicle driven by James Wylie, 54, of Clinton, on Cobb Hollow Road just outside Lake City on Sept. 12 and hit her head, causing her death, the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation said in a Tuesday press release. [Read more…]

Briceville man killed in logging accident

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Information from WYSH Radio

A Briceville logger was killed Friday morning while cutting trees in Campbell County. The Sheriff’s Office says that the accident occurred at a worksite on Sharps Lane in Caryville at around 9:30 a.m. Friday.

Investigators say that 60-year-old Calvin Daugherty was cutting a series of trees, and when one fell, it struck the top of a second, smaller tree. The top of the second tree broke off and hit Daugherty, who struck his head on a rock when he fell to the ground. [Read more…]

Faith column: Roger Ebert’s final critique

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The history books will record Roger Ebert as a great film critic. He was that and, I am certain, much more to those who loved and knew him best. His loss has been felt by many around the globe because of the millions he touched. Ebert took us to the movies for years; he guided our ticket purchases, awakened in us a poetic appreciation for films we might not otherwise have seen; and best of all, he called the public away from the mindless, lowest common denominator of entertainment. His ability to critique film and his way with words had the effect of “raising all our boats” in the areas of culture, intellect, emotion, and even an awareness of the sacred.

Ebert’s ability to awaken us is what makes his death feel so tragic; but it is also what makes his now popularized letter, “I Do Not Fear Death,” equally as tragic. Ebert’s final critique came to us not in the form of a film review, but in a staunch and unwavering gaze cast toward seeming permanence of death. It has taken the Internet somewhat by storm and praised by many.

I confess, I found little praiseworthy in it. In fact, it primarily aroused in me a deep sense of pity to see a man with such brilliance and appreciation for beauty in life take those gifts and place them in a room with such a low ontological ceiling. [Read more…]

Faith column: Dimensions of the Resurrection

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Resurrection

On several occasions, I have stood beside empty tombs or graves. I have seen the incredulous, empty stares of shocked family members forced to bury a loved one. Many times the death has been untimely and seemingly unfair. It is hard to make sense of death. But its pain can be absorbed by the promise of resurrection. The apostle Paul reminds us that everything truly stands or falls on the resurrection.

This holiday (holy-day) comes around annually. It is never on the same Sunday, and sometimes I am amazed at either how early or how late it is for that particular calendar year. Teachers and students eagerly anticipate its appearance on the calendar for Spring Break. Though hardly ever on the same date, it comes around like clockwork. But its annual appearance is obscured by the fact that it falls in line with a host of regular holidays. We often know that it comes around spring time, and before Mother’s Day. [Read more…]