Female Nurse Practitioner Kills Two Sons and Grandma in Horrifying Family Tragedy

A quiet Tennessee community is reeling after authorities say a young mother carried out a devastating murder-suicide that left four family members dead, including two children and an elderly grandmother.

Deputies with the Humphreys County Sheriff’s Office were called to a home in Waverly on Friday morning for a welfare check. Inside the residence, investigators discovered four bodies, all suffering from gunshot wounds.

The victims were identified as 32-year-old Heather Thompson, her sons Arius Thompson, 4, and Isaiah Johnson, 13, and her grandmother, Evelyn Johnson, 88.

According to authorities, preliminary evidence suggests Heather Thompson fatally shot her two young sons and her grandmother before taking her own life. Sheriff Chris Davis said there were no signs of forced entry and investigators believe no one else was involved.

Davis confirmed that Evelyn Johnson was Thompson’s grandmother and said there had been no prior domestic violence calls or known mental health-related incidents linked to the home. A possible motive has not yet been released as the investigation continues.

Visibly emotional, Davis told reporters he personally knew the family.

“Here again, small-town America. Here again, I know the families,” he said. “So we’re going to do right by them. We’re going to respect them.”

The sheriff’s office is being assisted by the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation.

Heather Thompson, a nurse practitioner, was reportedly estranged from the children’s father, Jeremiah Thompson, who later shared his heartbreak on social media. He wrote that losing his sons had “shattered” him, describing the boys as “just babies.”

Jeremiah Thompson, who lives in Albuquerque, New Mexico, also launched a GoFundMe campaign to help bring his sons back home for burial. As of Sunday morning, the fundraiser had collected nearly $11,000 toward its $16,000 goal.

The family’s home sits along East Little Richland Road, a rural stretch of Waverly that lies in a flood-prone area. The town itself has endured repeated tragedies in recent years, including a catastrophic flash flood in August 2021 that killed 20 people and devastated large parts of the community.