Knoxville Police have identified the two victims in a weekend double murder and the hunt for the suspect remains on-going.
22 year-old Madison Johnson and 21 year-old Heidi Johnson were found dead in a home Saturday morning on Woodlawn Pike.
KPD has identified the suspect as 26 year-old Jair Martin who is charged with two counts of first-degree murder in the deaths of the two women.
Anyone with information is asked to contact East Tennessee Valley Crime Stoppers.
Original Story: Knoxville Police are searching for a suspect in a weekend double murder.
KPD has identified 26 year-old Jair Martin in connection to the murders on Woodlawn Pike Saturday morning. Martin is charged on two counts of first-degree murder, stemming from the death of the two women found inside the home.
Efforts remain ongoing to locate Martin, who left the immediate area of the murders on foot. If you have any information, you are asked to call East Tennessee Valley Crime Stoppers at 865-215-7165.
FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. – The fourth-ranked Lady Vols defeated South Carolina, 3-1, Saturday at Bogle Park to clinch their third SEC Tournament crown – the program’s first since 2011 – completing the regular-season and tournament title sweep.
It is the first time in Tennessee (44-8) softball history that it has won both the regular-season and tournament championship in the same season. The Lady Vols are the 13th regular-season champion to win the SEC Softball Tournament.
South Carolina (37-20) got on the board first using a one-out triple followed by a sacrifice fly off the bat of Riley Blampied to push one run across in the first inning.
The Lady Vols did not wait long to respond as they worked their two-out magic in the home half of the inning. With two away and runners in scoring position, junior Rylie West pulled a single through the left side of the diamond to plate Zaida Puni and tie the game at 1-1.
The bottom of the lineup picked up Tennessee in the third as freshman Jamison Brockenbrough dropped a single down the left-field line to bring home a pair of runs. The single came with two out in the inning as the Lady Vols again used a two-out rally to take the lead at 3-1.
Tennessee gave the ball to Payton Gottshall to start the game and went five innings before giving way to Ashley Rogers out of the bullpen. The right-hander held the Gamecocks to one run on three hits with a walk and two strikeouts.
She picked up the win – her 12th of the year – and second of the tournament.
Rogers then shut the Gamecocks down over the final two innings as she picked up her first save of the season. The Athens, Tennessee, native entered the game in the sixth and struck out the side. In the seventh, Aaliyah White doubled to lead off the final frame but Rogers slammed the door and sealed the win.
The righty who battled through injuries during her career and returned to Rocky Top for a fifth and final season caught a comebacker for the game’s final out.
NOTABLES ALL-SEC TEAM Kiki Milloy was named tournament MVP after going 3-for-8 with two home runs, three RBIs and three runs scored. Lair Beautae, Payton Gottshall and Ashley Rogers were also named to the SEC All-Tournament Team alongside Milloy.
TWO-OUT MAGIC The Lady Vols had the magic working on the weekend as they scored all 14 of their runs with two outs.
UP NEXT Tennessee learns its postseason fate Sunday night when the NCAA reveals its 2023 tournament bracket. The selection show will air at 7 p.m. ET on ESPN2.
The Tennessee basketball program added another sharpshooting guard to its roster this week, as Northern Colorado transfer Dalton Knecht has signed with the Volunteers.
As a senior this past season, Knecht (pronounced: connect) averaged 20.2 points per game to earn the Big Sky Conference scoring title. The 6-6 guard also averaged a team-best 7.2 rebounds and 1.8 assists per game. Knecht shot 47.9 percent from the field in 2022-23, a top-five clip among Big Sky players in that department. He also connected on 38.1 percent of his 3-point attempts last season, good for third in the Big Sky, while making a league-high 77 triples.
Hailing from Thornton, Colorado, Knecht started each of Northern Colorado’s 32 games during the 2022-23 campaign, averaging 35.3 minutes per game. He earned second-team All-Big Sky honors and also was selected to the NABC All-District 9 Second Team.
“Dalton is just a terrific story of a guy whose hard work has enabled him to steadily improve his game,” Tennessee head coach Rick Barnes said. “He’s grown nearly a foot since he started playing high school ball. And as he’s grown, he’s expanded his skill set as well. He’s a proven scorer and was one of the top offensive producers in the portal, so he immediately gives our team a boost in offensive firepower.”
Knecht in 2022-23 scored in double figures in 28 of 32 games. He scored at least 20 points 18 times last season and showcased his explosiveness with a trio of 30+ point efforts.
“Beyond being a high-level shooter, his ability to put the ball on the floor and attack downhill with athleticism really drew our attention,” Barnes added. “He’s another guy who comes from a great family, and we’re excited to welcome them into our Volunteer family.”
Knecht holds the potential to become an offensive catalyst within Tennessee’s offense, especially from 3-point range. Overall in two seasons at Northern Colorado, he shot 37.3 percent from beyond the arc and averaged 14.3 points, 5.3 rebounds and 1.3 assists spanning 67 games.
Prior to his stint at Northern Colorado, Knecht spent two seasons at Northeastern Junior College in Colorado, garnering first-team NJCAA All-America honors as a sophomore in 2020-21 while averaging 23.9 points per game.
Before enrolling at NJC, he attended Prairie View High School in Henderson, Colorado.
The Tennessee basketball program has added another decorated and well-rounded impact player to its roster, as Harvard transfer Chris Ledlum signed to spend his final year of collegiate eligibility on Rocky Top.
A versatile 6-6 swingman originally from Brooklyn, New York, Ledlum’s four years at Harvard saw him total 955 points in 70 games for a career average of 13.6 points per game.
Ivy League schools cancelled the men’s basketball season in 2020-21, and Ledlum sustained a season-ending injury after appearing in 13 games as a junior in 2021-22.
Ledlum, who will receive his Harvard degree in Sociology later this month, earned second-team Academic All-America distinction in 2023. Equally as accomplished on the hardwood, he also was a first-team NABC All-District selection and a unanimous first-team All-Ivy League performer this past year.
“Chris has many of the characteristics we value in our program,” Vols head coach Rick Barnes said. “He has a tremendous work ethic and plays with grit, toughness and a bit of swagger. We’ve seen similar traits in other Vols from New York, and we expect Chris to build on that history.
“He comes from a wonderful family and had a tremendous career at Harvard playing for a great coach in Tommy Amaker, so he’s coming in with a strong foundation. He’ll give us an inside-outside scoring presence. And his versatility—scoring, rebounding and playmaking—extends our ability to create mismatches.”
Ledlum in 2022-23 led the Ivy League in rebounding (8.4 rpg) and ranked second in both scoring (18.8 ppg) and steals (1.8 spg). He scored in double figures in 26 of 28 games, eclipsed 20 points 11 times and netted 30 or more points twice. He posted eight double-doubles, and his 527 points on the year ranked fifth on Harvard’s all-time single-season list.
When the Crimson traveled to Phog Allen Fieldhouse to face fourth-ranked Kansas on Dec. 22, Ledlum totaled 17 points and nine rebounds. His best scoring performance was a 35-point effort at Cornell on Feb. 18.
Prior to college, Ledlum played two years at St. Peter’s Boys High School in Staten Island before spending his senior year at Northfield Mount Hermon School in Gill, Massachusetts, where he won the 2019 Gatorade Massachusetts Player of the Year award.
Congrats to @chris_ledlum on his commitment to Tennessee Men's Basketball!
Tennessee basketball coach Rick Barnes announced Tuesday that combo guard Jordan Gainey has signed with UT following two decorated seasons at USC Upstate.
The 6-4 Gainey was named 2022 Big South Co-Freshman of the Year before garnering first-team All-Big South honors this past season while ranking among the top-10 in that league in 11 different statistical categories.
In his two years at USC Upstate, Gainey started 58 of the 61 games in which he appeared, averaging 14.6 points, 2.5 rebounds, 2.4 assists and 1.6 steals per game while shooting 42.8 percent from the field. He scored in double figures 49 times as a Spartan, totaling 929 career points.
Gainey—whose father, Justin, is Tennessee’s associate head coach—is a career 40.8-percent shooter from 3-point range. As a freshman in 2021-22, he led the Big South with a 49.3 3-point percentage. He has made four or more 3-pointers 10 times in his career.
“We obviously know and love Jordan’s family, but his ability as a player stands on its own merit,” Barnes said. “He plays with a high basketball IQ and is a guy who makes his teammates better. We love his offensive versatility and his ability to shoot and score the ball in a variety of ways. In addition to giving us another shot-maker, he also competes on the defensive end and led (the Big South) in steals last year.”
Active defensively, Gainey’s conference-leading 1.94 steals per game this past season guided USC Upstate to rank 59th nationally in turnovers forced per game.
In seven career games against high-major opponents, Gainey averaged 10.6 points and 3.0 rebounds per game. Last season at Clemson, Gainey scored 24 points on 8-of-16 shooting with four rebounds, two assists and a steal in 34 highly productive minutes.
His top scoring effort to date was a 28-point performance in Upstate’s home win over South Carolina State last December. It stands as one of 13 20-point games in Gainey’s career.
Prior to USC Upstate, Gainey prepped at South Kent High in South Kent, Connecticut.
-UT Athletics
Vols G Jordan Gainey / Credit: UT Athletics
Posted on May 11, 2023
Photo courtesy of WVLT
Sevierville Police have arrested two suspects and identified the victim of a shooting near Mountain View Church.
Police found 29-year-old Brandon Fernandez shot in his thigh on the 2400 block of Goose Gap Road yesterday.
Deputies stopped Fernandez’s bleeding and he was taken to the hospital where he is in stable condition.
Two suspects were arrested in connection to the shooting: William Nails and Timothy Galvin. Nails was charged with attempted first-degree murder and Galvin was charged with accessory to attempted first degree murder.
