MANCHESTER, Tenn. (WTVF) — A young mother will be buried later this week after police say the father of her baby shot her in the head.
Katrina Blackburn, 22, died Thursday in Coffee County.
According to the Coffee County Sheriff's Office, she was shot in the forehead at her home in Hillsboro. Police say James Lyon II, a man with the same address, pulled the trigger. Lyon told police three different stories about how Blackburn was killed.
"Our community is not taking it light. They're not taking the situation light at all," said Victoria Brinhall, a friend.
Blackburn and Lyon shared a nine-month-old daughter.
On Monday, Blackburn's family and friends went to the courthouse for a hearing about the baby's custody.
Currently, Lyon's parents have the baby. Lyon is being held at the jail on a reckless homicide charge as well as a felon in possession of a firearm charge. He has prior felony charges in Michigan.
"It's just to know that somebody is responsible for taking someone else's life out of anger or hatred or betrayal. It's sick," Brinhall said.
Just three days before Blackburn's death, a domestic assault charge against Lyon was dismissed. In May, Blackburn pressed charges after police say Lyon threw her to the ground at their home. Because Blackburn missed several court dates, the district attorney said the case was thrown out.
