Nurse, 32, Kills Sons and Grandmother in Horrific Murder-Suicide

Deputies with the Humphreys County Sheriff’s Office were sent to a home in Waverly on January 2 for a routine welfare check. What they found instead was a scene investigators described as heartbreaking.

Inside the home were four victims, all suffering from fatal gunshot wounds.

Authorities identified the children as Arius Thompson, 4, and Isaiah Johnson, 13. The third victim was Evelyn Johnson, 88, the boys’ great‑grandmother. Investigators say the children’s mother, Heather Thompson, 32, was also found dead inside the residence.

Sheriff Chris Davis said early evidence points to Thompson killing her sons and grandmother before dying by suicide. No one else is believed to be involved.

“There’s no indication of any other suspects,” Davis said. “This appears to be an isolated and tragic incident.”

Davis, visibly emotional during a press briefing, said the case hit close to home.

“This is small‑town America,” he said. “I know these families. They’ve lived here their entire lives. We’re going to respect them, and we’re going to do right by them.”

He added that there had been no prior calls for service at the home. Investigators are now coordinating with local schools and state agencies to piece together the family’s recent history.

The Tennessee Bureau of Investigation is assisting with the investigation.

Public records show Thompson worked as a nurse at Ascension Saint Thomas Three Rivers Hospital in Waverly. She earned her master’s degree from Walden University and was known locally as a dedicated healthcare worker.

Authorities have not released a motive and say the investigation remains ongoing.

The boys’ father, Jeremiah “Biah” Thompson, who was estranged from their mother and lives in New Mexico, shared his heartbreak online shortly after learning of the deaths.

“I miss my sons already,” he wrote. “Daddy still loves you. Sorry I was at work.”

In another post, he described the moment he received the news.
“As a father, it shattered my soul to hear my sons Arius and Isaiah are no longer with us,” he wrote. “They were just babies. Every second, I wish I could wake up from this.”

Biah has since launched a GoFundMe to cover funeral expenses and to bring his sons back to New Mexico for burial. The fundraiser has raised nearly $11,000 toward a $16,000 goal.

Despite his grief, he thanked supporters for their messages and prayers, saying he and his sister were traveling to Tennessee to bring the boys home.

The killings come just months after Humphreys County was rocked by another catastrophe. In October 2025, an explosion at the Accurate Energetic Systems plant near the Humphreys‑Hickman county line killed 16 people and shook the region.

That blast, involving more than 24,000 pounds of explosives, registered as a 1.6‑magnitude seismic event, according to federal data. The cause remains under investigation. The plant sits roughly 18 miles from the Thompson family home.

For many residents, the latest tragedy feels overwhelming.

“This town has been through so much already,” one local resident said. “It’s hard to understand how this keeps happening.”

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