Sunday Homicide Suspect in Custody and Details Released by CCSD

CCSD Press Release: 

Cumberland County Sheriff’s Deputies responded to a 911 call at

approximately 6:22 P.M. Sunday Evening (09/27/2020) to 25 Christian Road for a

shooting call. Deputies arrived and discovered the victim, Billy Ray Jones (DOB

6/15/1957) deceased inside the home from an apparent gunshot wound as a result of a

homicide. Deputies immediately secured the scene and contacted investigators.

Scene of Shooting on Christian Rd.

Cumberland County Sheriff’s Investigators, Agents from the Tennessee Bureau of

Investigation and members of the 13th Judicial District Attorney’s Office responded to

the scene to conduct an investigation. The investigation proceeded and a primary

suspect, Thomas Mack Arnold, Sr. (DOB 10/24/1981) became the focus of the

investigation in which it was believed that he had committed the murder and shot Billy

Ray Jones. The investigation also revealed that Arnold was attempting to flee

Tennessee and go to Florida and that Arnold could possibly be travelling in a green

1997 Mercury Grand Marquis.

Cumberland County Sheriff’s Office contacted multiple Sheriff’s Offices in Georgia near

I-75 and issued a BOLO for the suspect Arnold as well as a green 1997 Mercury Grand

Marquis. At approximately 3:10 A.M. The Crisp County Sheriff’s Office in Georgia

contacted Sheriff Casey Cox and advised him that Crisp County Sheriff’s Deputies had

captured and arrested suspect Arnold as they conducted a traffic stop of a green 1997

Mercury Grand Marquis travelling south on I-75. The suspect Arnold was taken into

custody without incident.

Thomas Mack Arnold, Sr. has been charged with First Degree Murder and will be

extradited back to Tennessee to the Cumberland County Sheriff's Office awaiting a

court appearance. The victim will be transported to the Medical Examiner's Office in

Nashville, Tennessee for autopsy and all evidence will be analyzed by the Tennessee

Bureau of Investigation Crime Laboratory.

Sheriff Cox said “I wanted to thank all the multiple agencies who worked together so

well to solve this murder investigation”. He also said “this is a result of teamwork and

multiple law enforcement agencies working great together.” This is the second murder

investigation that agencies responded to, worked, and solved in Cumberland County

this weekend.

The investigation is ongoing and additional releases will be provided as information

becomes available. 

Cumberland Co. Sheriff's Office Investigating Another Homicide

Photo and info from CCSD

Cumberland County Sheriff's Office, Tennessee Bureau of Investigation, and the District Attorney's Office of the 13th Judicial District are currently conducting a homicide investigation at a residence on Christian Road in Cumberland County. Identity and further details will be released as the investigation continues.

One Dead, One Charged in Saturday Night Shooting

Cumberland Co. Sheriff Dept. Press Release

On September 26, 2020, at approximately 5:08 PM the Cumberland County E911 Center received multiple telephone calls of a shooting located at 434 Doris Drive located in Cumberland County where Matthew Musser (age 20) of Cumberland County had allegedly been shot by Robert David Morse (age 20) of Cumberland County. 

Cumberland County Sheriff's Office Deputies quickly arrived at the residence and immediately came into contact with Morse who was identified as the suspect who had shot Mr. Musser. Deputies immediately took Morse into custody without incident. 

ROBERT DAVID MORSE (Age 20) 

Charge: First Degree Murder 

$1,000,000 Bond 

As deputies entered into the home they discovered Mr. Musser lying in a bed deceased from multiple apparent gunshot wounds as a result of homicide. EMS responded to the scene also and confirmed that Mr. Musser was deceased. Other witnesses were at the residence and nearby when the shooting took place which had also called 911. 

The crime scene was secured and investigators with the Cumberland County Sheriff's Office, the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation, and the District Attorney's Office of the 13th Judicial District shortly arrived on the scene and began processing the crime scene and conducting an investigation, which is currently ongoing. Morse has been charged with First Degree Murder and bond set at $1,000,000. His General Sessions court date is scheduled for October 12, 2020. 

The victim will be transported to the Medical Examiner's Office in Nashville, Tennessee for autopsy and all evidence will be analyzed by the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation Crime Laboratory. 

Murder Investigation Continues into Death of Neverfail Road Man

CCSD Press Release

On September 3, 2020, at approximately 7:45 p.m. Cumberland County deputies were dispatched to the residence located at 436 Neverfail Road in Cumberland County to conduct a welfare check of Austin Shane Lewis. 

The welfare check was requested due to not being able to make contact with Mr. Lewis for a period of time. When deputies arrived they discovered the front door of the residence to be standing open. As deputies entered into the residence they discovered Austin Shane Lewis age: 30 of Crossville to be deceased inside the home from an apparent gunshot wound. 

Investigators with the Cumberland County Sheriff's Office, Tennessee Bureau of Investigation, and 13th Judicial District Attorney General's Office responded to the scene and are currently investigating this case. It is early into the Investigation and little information can be released at this time. The victim will be sent to the State of Tennessee's Medical Examiner's Office in Nashville for autopsy. This homicide investigation is active and ongoing. More information will be released as it becomes available.

Changes in COVID-19 Data Reporting drop Cumberland Co. Active Cases and adjust locations of cases.

Information from Cumberland Co. Mayor Allen Foster

Updated numbers include corrections to data reporting errors where some positive tests were attributed to incorrect counties due to a mismatch in zip code assignments. Cumberland County had an increase of 88 new positive cases Thursday offset by 207 newly recovered, many of which are likely attributed to the adjustment. Over 1,700 adjustments were made across the state.

The Governor and the Tennessee Department of Health (TDH) today released the new state dashboard for COVID-19 data (see link below). A couple of notes concerning the data. The recovery time was reduced from 21 days to 14 days. Recovered cases are also now referred to as inactive/recovered cases.

The following are the numbers from the Tennessee Department of Health (TDH) for Cumberland County as of Thursday, 9/3/2020 at 3:00 PM.  The change from the prior day is in parenthesis.  

217 active cases (-120)

718 recovered (+207)

9 deaths officially reported (+1)

944 positive cases (+88) SEE ABOVE INFO ON DATA CORRECTIONS

40 hospitalizations (+0) 

17,933 negative tests (+334)

5.00% cumulative positivity rate (positive cases / positive cases + negative tests)

1.56% of residents have tested positive

0.36% of residents have active cases