One guilty, one acquitted in roadside shooting of nurse

NASHVILLE (AP) — The man who shot and killed a Tennessee nurse as she was driving to work two years ago was found guilty of second-degree murder on Tuesday, while a co-defendant was acquitted.

Devaunte Hill and James Cowan were both charged with first-degree murder in the death of 26-year-old Caitlyn Kaufman. The jury deliberated for more than 11 hours before returning a guilty verdict for Hill and acquitting Cowan, The Tennessean reported.

Hill had admitted to killing Kaufman on Dec. 3, 2020, as she drove to work at St. Thomas West Hospital in Nashville shortly after 6:00 p.m.

“I did it. I wasn’t thinking,” he testified in court last week.

Hill testified that he had been using drugs when he got in the car with Cowan to go pick up Cowan’s girlfriend.

Kaufman cut them off, and “Cowan hit the brakes and it startled me,” he testified. “I remember picking up the gun and firing the shots, but I couldn’t recall in that moment how many shots I’d fired.”

A single bullet — one of six fired at her — killed Kaufman, according to testimony.

Group makes first funding award to combat opioid epidemic

FRANKFORT, Ky. (AP) — A Kentucky commission assigned to distribute money from a massive settlement with opioid companies has made its first funding award to help combat the state’s opioid epidemic, Attorney General Daniel Cameron said Tuesday.

The Kentucky Opioid Abatement Advisory Commission has awarded $10.5 million in funding to a pilot program, Cameron announced. The program will offer behavioral health treatment options for people struggling with substance use disorder as an alternative to incarceration.

“This award of opioid settlement dollars is the first step toward bringing hope and help to Kentuckians struggling with substance use disorder,” Cameron said in a news release.

The commission oversees the state’s portion of funds stemming from nationwide settlements with several companies for their roles in the opioid addiction crisis. Kentucky will receive hundreds of millions of dollars.

Fatal drug overdoses rose nearly 15% in Kentucky in 2021 while surpassing 2,000 deaths, the state reported last year. The increased use of fentanyl — a powerful synthetic opioid — was a key contributor in the record death toll in the state, officials said.

State lawmakers have decided that half of Kentucky’s opioid settlement will flow directly to cities and counties for opioid-abuse abatement efforts.

`The commission will oversee distribution of the state’s half.

4 children, 1 adult dead in house fire

LUTTRELL (AP) — Tennessee officials are investigating the deaths of four children and one adult in a home that was destroyed by fire, authorities said.

The blaze was reported Saturday afternoon at a home in the Union County community of Luttrell, Tennessee Bureau of Investigation spokeswoman Keli McAlister told WVLT-TV. TBI spokeswoman Leslie Earhart confirmed the five fatalities.

Union County Director of Schools Gregory Clay said additional counselors would be available for students and that the small community would support one another.

Further information about the fire hasn’t been released. The TBI continues to work with the Union County Sheriff’s Office to investigate.

Nashville mayor won’t seek reelection

NASHVILLE (AP) — Nashville Mayor John Cooper has announced that he will not run for reelection when his term expires later this year.

Cooper, 66, made the announcement Tuesday.

Cooper was first elected to the position in 2019, when he defeated former Mayor David Briley. His term has included overseeing the COVID-19 outbreak, the 2020 Christmas Day bombing, and fatal tornadoes. He’s also helped finalize an agreement with software giant Oracle Corporation, which is set to build a $1.2 billion campus in east Nashville.

Currently, candidates seeking to replace Cooper include Nashville council member Freddie O’Connell, Nashville at-large council member Sharon Hurt and former local government official Matt Wiltshire.

3 dead in northwest Georgia home from apparent drug overdose

KENSINGTON, Ga. (AP) — Three people were found dead in a northwest Georgia house on Monday from suspected drug overdoses.

Walker County Sheriff Steve Wilson tells the Chattanooga Times Free Press that the most likely cause of death was from smoking or inhaling fentanyl, a synthetic opioid.

Dried psychedelic mushrooms, marijuana and methamphetamines were also found in the Kensington house, Wilson said.

The deceased were identified as Donald Ray Wallin, 70, and Kevin Leroy Walker, 55, both of LaFayette, and Carla Joann Quillen, 37, of Menlo.

Someone called officials on Monday to report that the three were unresponsive. First responders surmised that the three had died hours earlier.

Wilson said no arrests have been made.

“It is our desire to search out and find the persons responsible for the drug being at this home,” Wilson said, “for the individual that ultimately sold the product and caused the deaths.”