Newport, TN (WOKI / WVLT) An entire community is working to help a 24-year-old autistic man get a home of his own.

Nate Morris has been living in a Cocke County hotel since January, paid for by his driver’s education teacher and friend, Wade Wester. That friend, now mounting a Go Fund Me campaign, says he is overwhelmed by the outpouring of public support for Morris.

“It’s been so overwhelming for me just to see the community support him,” said Wester speaking with our news partner, WVLT. “It’s really knocked the breath out of me just how supportive everybody is, and I just want to make sure this money goes the right direction and helps Nate find somewhere to live.”

Morriss’ friends said you’ll always see him with a smile on his face, whether he’s at work or cheering for his Cocke County High School Fighting Cocks at a basketball game.

Morriss is also helping himself— working at Food City twice a week to save up money of his own. He told WVLT News he’s grateful to have a roof over his head, but wants a place to himself.

“It would be fantastic to have,” Morriss said. “So that I could be with my mother and just have a good life with my mother.”

That home is a goal the community is happy to help with, Wester said. “When this GoFundMe came out, just everybody that had been around Nate at some point just started putting money in the account,” Wester said. “Because of the impression that he made on them.” Wester said the community has raised over $6,000 toward their grand total of $10,000.

Those people, donating to see Morriss and his mother in a home, also made an impression on the young man.

“All my friends here who are praying for me right now, I just want to say ‘thanks everybody,’” Morriss said.

You can donate to the GoFundMe here.

Sevier County, TN (WOKI) Carrie Matthews, the woman accused of helping a murder suspect wanted for killing a Blount County deputy and shooting another, appeared in court on Friday, opting to waive her right to a preliminary hearing.

Matthews’ decision means her case will move forward to a Grand Jury.

Matthews is facing a charge of accessory after the fact in connection to boyfriend Kenneth DeHart who was on the run for several days; police say she warned DeHart they were looking for him by telling him “they’re here.”

Matthews is on bail and for the past month has been wearing an ankle monitor.

Her next hearing is scheduled for May 13.

Jamestown, TN (WOKI) The Tennessee Bureau of Investigation is investigating after a Jamestown Police officer fatally shoots a man during a domestic dispute call Wednesday night.

TBI says officers responded to the 200 block of N. Smith Street around 9:00 p.m., where they found a man armed with a machete who reportedly refused to comply with their verbal commands; officers then used a Taser on the man which was not effective.

TBI says at some point during the confrontation, an officer fired his service weapon, striking the man who was taken to a nearby hospital, where he was pronounced dead.

Wednesday’s incident marks the second officer-involved shooting involving the Jamestown Police Department in 2024.