Knoxville, TN (WOKI) A Knoxville woman is sentenced Friday after she shot a passenger in her ex-boyfriend’s car during an argument in July 2022.
Officials with DA Charme Allen’s office say 23 year-old Kyeisha Dalton was convicted of Second Degree Murder and Reckless Endangerment in November 2023. She was sentenced to 16 years in prison without the possibility of parole.
In November, prosecuting attorneys relayed how Dalton had fired a handgun into the rear passenger seat of her ex-boyfriend’s vehicle, killing Tianja Duff, who was in the backseat after Dalton and the ex-boyfriend had gotten into a heated physical altercation and car chase on July 18, 2022.
“This is another unfortunate case where an argument quickly escalated to gun violence, and in this case, the person who paid the ultimate price wasn’t even part of the argument,” said DA Allen.
Knox County District Attorney Charme Allen says she’s reviewed and closed the case file involving the shooting and death of Knox County Deputy Tucker Blakely and the suspect involved in the case.
Deputies Blakely and James Loft responded to a domestic call in October in West Knox County. Officials say when they got there they found an armed man inside the home, that’s when shots were fired and Blakely was hit and killed.
Investigators say Deputy Loft returned fire killing the suspect.
Allen says those actions by Deputy Lloft were justified, he will not face any charges and the investigation is closed.
Lawmakers are trying to crack down on street racing in Tennessee.
A new proposal allows offenders to lose their driving privileges and possibly their car. This proposal comes after a deadly drag racing crash on Magnolia Avenue which left one man dead and injured two children in June of last year. Right now, drag racing is a Class A misdemeanor.
State Representative John Gillispie says he thinks his proposed bill will help stop drag racing. He initially introduced this bill last year, since then he’s added language that says the money earned when the drag racer’s car is sold at auction would go to the state’s traumatic injury trust fund.
KNOXVILLE, Tenn. – Three members of the Tennessee football team will represent the Volunteers this Saturday in the 2024 Hula Bowl in Orlando, Florida. Redshirt senior defensive back Gabe Jeudy-Lally, senior running back Jabari Small and redshirt senior tight end Jacob Warren will each suit up for a noon ET kickoff at UCF’s FBC Mortgage Stadium.
The postseason all-star game will feature representation from NFL, UFL and CFL teams throughout the week. This year’s Hula Bowl will be televised on CBS Sports Network.
Jeudy-Lally spent his final collegiate season with the Vols in 2023 after transferring from BYU and played in all 13 games while making 10 starts at cornerback. He totaled 41 combined tackles, four tackles for loss and one sack. The Austin, Texas, native also produced five pass breakups and forced one fumble. One of Jeudy-Lally’s best performances of the season came at Alabama, where he collected five tackles, one tackle for loss and a sack.
Small, who spent the past four seasons on Rocky Top, continued to showcase his dependability and drive in the backfield in 2023. Small played in 11 games and produced 475 rushing yards, averaging 5.0 yards per carry, which ranked 17th in the SEC. The senior also added a pair of rushing touchdowns.
For his career, Small finished with 2,122 rushing yards, which ranks 16th all-time at Tennessee. The Memphis native also found the end zone 26 times during his time on Rocky Top with 24 rushing scores and two receiving touchdowns.
Warren concluded his time as a Vol playing and starting in each of Tennessee’s 13 games at tight end this season. The Knoxville native caught 16 passes for 191 yards while logging a single-season career high four touchdown receptions. Warren’s best performance came in his final regular-season game against in-state rival Vanderbilt when he hauled in three catches for 82 yards and a touchdown during a blowout win over the Commodores in his final game inside Neyland Stadium.
Warren received various honors throughout the season including being named a Campbell Trophy semifinalist, a Wuerffel Trophy nominee and an Allstate AFCA Good Works Team nominee while also being selected into the 2023 NFF Hampshire Honor Society.
During his time in Knoxville, Warren totaled 53 receptions for 607 yards and eight touchdowns, one shy of tying the program record for touchdown catches by a tight end.
The Knoxville Police Department will conduct a sobriety checkpoint on the night of Friday, January 26, 2024 just outside of downtown Knoxville.
KPD officers will staff the checkpoint, which will be set up in the Fort Sanders area. The purpose of the checkpoint is to deter impaired driving, prevent serious or fatal crashes, and increase public awareness of the consequences of driving while under the influence.
During the checkpoint, officers will check motorists for signs of alcohol or drug impairment.
Alcohol or drug impairment possibly contributed to over 43 percent of the fatal crashes that happened in Knoxville in 2022.
In 2022, the KPD acquired a DUI checkpoint trailer through the Tennessee High Safety Office (TNHSO) Traffic Services grant at no cost to Knoxville taxpayers that will be used during the January 26th sobriety checkpoint.
The Knoxville Police Department reminds motorists to always practice safe driving habits in all situations. Motorists are encouraged to slow down, buckle up, reduce distractions, pay attention to the road, and never drive while under the influence.
Knoxville man turns himself in for assault on Fort Sanders nurse (Courtesy: ETVCS)
Knoxville, TN (WOKI) UPDATE 1/12: A Knoxville man who attacked a nurse at Fort Sanders Regional Medical Center earlier this month has turned himself in.
East Tennessee Valley Crime Stoppers say 57 year-old Jackie B. Bell turned himself in Thursday evening; Bell was wanted for attacking the nurse while visiting a patient at the hospital on January 2.
Officials thank everyone who submitted a tip regarding Bell’s whereabouts.
ORIGINAL STORY: East Tennessee Valley Crime Stoppers is looking for a man wanted for attacking a nurse at Fort Sanders Regional Medical Center.
Investigators say Jackie Bell was visiting a patient at the hospital on January 2 when he assaulted a nurse in the hospital room.
Bell is an African-American male who is bald with brown eyes and a moustache.
If you have any information, please call Crime Stoppers at 865-215-7165.
Box ScoreKNOXVILLE, Tenn. – Tennessee fended off a scrappy Florida team to extend its win streak to six games, taking an 88-81 victory over the Gators in Food City Center on Thursday.
For the third straight game in SEC play, the Lady Vols overcame a double-digit deficit to claim victory, this time overturning a 12-point UF advantage in the second quarter. The Lady Vols converted on 16 of 18 free-throw tries in the final frame to seal the victory.
Tennessee (10-5, 3-0 SEC) was led by senior Jewel Spear and junior Sara Puckett, who each fired in 20 points. Spear shot 50 percent from the field and 91 percent from the charity stripe on 10 made free throws, while Puckett went 4-of-5 from behind the arc for a season-best four treys. Fifth-year senior Rickea Jackson was also a top producer with 18 points and eight rebounds.
Aliyah Matharu was the high scorer for Florida (9-6, 0-3 SEC) with 23 points. Leilani Correa was also in double digits with 12, and Alberte Rimdal and Zippy Broughton each finished with 11.
The Lady Vols’ first two points came from the free-throw line courtesy of Jasmine Powell at the 9:17 mark. The Gators tied it up on the next play, but a trio of Puckett threes had the Lady Vols ahead 13-6 by the 5:13 mark. The Gators responded with four quick points to ignite an 11-2 run that gave them a 19-15 lead with 1:48 to go in the first. Tamari Key ended the drought for UT with a layup and followed it up with a long-range two on the next play to tie the game at 19-all, but Florida got a bucket in before the buzzer to take a 21-19 lead into the second quarter.
A pair of Matharu jumpers set off a 9-0 run that built the Gators’ lead to 30-19 with 7:38 to go in the half. Jackson scored UT’s first points of the quarter 40 seconds later, and the teams traded baskets until a Karoline Striplin three pulled Tennessee within seven by the media timeout at 35-28. Jewel Spear converted on an old-fashioned three-point play following the timeout to trim it to four. Correa buried a jumper on the next play, but Spear scored again to set off an 8-2 run that tied the game at 39-all with 1:05 on the clock. Florida took the lead twice more, but UT answered both times, sending the game into the half with the score knotted up at 43.
The Gators reclaimed the lead on the first play of the second half, but a jumper by Spear at the 6:59 mark put the Lady Vols ahead 47-46. A free throw by Jackson stretched the lead to two, but a three-point play by Laila Reynolds on the next possession pushed UF on top by one. Jillian Hollingshead responded with three points, and Powell followed it up with a jumper to build UT’s lead up to four with four minutes to go in the third. Florida inched within one with 90 seconds on the clock, but a three by Striplin lifted UT’s advantage back to four, and the Lady Vols maintained that through the buzzer, taking a 63-59 lead into the fourth.
Matharu pocketed a jumper on the first play of the final stanza to pull UF within two, but four quick points by Puckett and Spear extended the Lady Vol lead to six. Florida scrapped within three with 8:11 left in the game, but a pair of Kaiya Wynn free throws and another trey by Puckett provided UT a 72-64 lead with 5:39 to go. Broughton cut it back to six on the next play, but Jackson and Spear scored on back-to-back possessions to give UT its largest lead of the game at 76-66 at the 3:42 mark. Correa responded with a trey for UF to cut the deficit to seven, and that’s as close as Florida would get as Tennessee converted on free throws to close out the 88-81 victory.
UP NEXT: Tennessee will hit the road for two games, beginning with a Sunday battle at Texas A&M (13-3, 1-2 SEC). The Lady Vols and Aggies will meet at Reed Arena at 4 p.m. CT (5 ET) in a contest televised by ESPN.
COMEBACK KIDS: Tennessee has come from double digits down to win all three SEC games this season. The Lady Vols trailed Florida by 12, 35-23, with 5:53 remaining in the second quarter before rallying to a 43-all tie by halftime. The Lady Vols previously erased second-quarter deficits of 12 vs. Auburn and 17 vs. Kentucky to win those contests. This time, however, the Lady Vols made up the entire gap by intermission.
SEALING IT AT THE LINE: Tennessee made 26 of 30 free-throw attempts against Florida, the most the Lady Vols have completed from the charity stripe since last season’s contest at Mississippi State. UT went 37 of 44 vs. the Bulldogs in that contest on Feb. 6, 2023. Against the Gators Thursday night, the Big Orange closed out the game by hitting 16 of 18 tries in the fourth quarter and 21 of their 25 opportunities in the second half. UT’s 86.7-percent marksmanship also was a season best.
BIG NIGHT FOR PUCKETT:Sara Puckett co-led Tennessee with a personal SEC high of 20 points, ranking as the second-best scoring output of her career behind a career-topping 24 vs. Memphis on Nov. 13. The junior forward got off to a fast start, dropping a trio of three-pointers against the Gators in the first five minutes of the game that tied her season high of three-balls for an entire contest. She finished with a career-best 4-of-5 night behind the arc and was eight of 12 from the field on the evening. She also matched Rickea Jackson as UT’s leader in rebounds with eight, equaling her season best first recorded vs. Oklahoma on Nov. 25.
SPEAR STRONG AGAIN IN SEC:Jewel Spear tallied 20 points to tie Sara Puckett as Tennessee’s scoring leader vs. UF, marking the first time she has produced back-to-back 20-point efforts as a Lady Vol. She had 21 vs. Kentucky in the previous game. Spear was five of 10 from the field and 10 of 11 from the charity stripe vs. Florida. She also grabbed six rebounds and tied her season high with three assists.
KEY PAINT PRODUCTION:Tamari Key tied her season high with nine points vs. Florida. Key went three for three in the first quarter and finished with six points by the end of the first half, already her second-highest scoring output of the campaign behind a nine-point effort vs. Ohio State on Dec. 3. The 6-foot-6 redshirt senior wound up four of five from the field in 15 minutes of duty vs. the Gators.
Steven Maradiaga, 25 (Courtesy: Sevierville Police Department)
Sevierville, TN (WOKI) The Sevierville Police Department is asking for help finding a missing man who was last seen in October.
Sevierville Police Department officials say 25 year-old Steven Maradiaga was last seen on October 24, 2023. He is Hispanic, stands 6-feet-tall and has black hair and brown eyes.
Officials say Maradiaga was last seen near Pickens Drive. Those with information are being asked to call 865-868-1751.
Kenterrius McGuffie, 27 (Courtesy: Tennessee Bureau of Investigation)
Athens, TN (WOKI) An Athens man is arrested and charged after allegedly uploading child sexual abuse material to Snapchat.
Officials with the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation say 27 year-old Kenterrius McGuffie was arrested at his workplace in Sweetwater Monday following a tip from the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children concerning child sexual abuse material being uploaded by a Snapchat user, later identified as McGuffie.
Following a search of his home, TBI agents subsequently arrested McGuffie, charging him with 13 counts of Aggravated Rape of a Child, 12 counts of Especially Aggravated Sexual Exploitation of a Minor, one count of Continual Sexual Abuse of a Child, and one count of Sexual Exploitation of a Minor (Over 50 Images).
McGuffie is being held in the McMinn County Jail on a $400,000 bond.
TBI says this is an ongoing investigation. Anyone with information is being asked to call 1-800-TBI-FIND.
The Knox County Growth Policy Coordinating Committee approves a plan that outlines how Knox County will grow over the next 20 years.
The original proposal detailed over 16,000 acres of rural land in areas like Karns, Corryton, Halls, Gibbs, and Hardin Valley and the new revised plan is preserving more than 2,000 acres of that original proposed land.
The proposed changes include things like building more places to live, widening roads, and updating infrastructure to make sure the area is sustainable for growth.
This plan will still need to be approved by the Knoxville City Council and Town of Farragut before it becomes official.
