It was a busy year for news in DeKalb County and the surrounding area, with COVID dominating most of the year. DeKalb reached 4,451 total cases in 2021, with 84 deaths to the virus. The pandemic spiked locally in January, and then again surged in August with the Delta variant. As the New Year approaches, the Omicron variant has officials concerned for another possible spike in cases.
Other top stories in DeKalb County included several traffic fatalities, house fires, and weather.
February 15
An ice storm came exactly six years from the last of such in DeKalb County. With great similarities, the 2015 and 2021 storms hit on Feb. 15 downing trees and power lines and all but paralyzed travel.
Many, if not most, areas in DeKalb County suffered power outages due to heavy ice accumulation. The accumulation of snow and ice for DeKalb County varied from two to four inches.
February 28
Five people, including a 16 month-old, were rescued after swift creek waters swept the truck they were in off into the creek. This was the second time in a five days that the rushing waters carried a vehicle off the water-covered bridge at Odom Page Road in Liberty. It happened in the exact same place where an Amazon commercial van was washed off the road.
All five occupants, including the child were safely rescued.
March 21
The Smithville Fire Department was dispatched to Jackson Street for a structure fire at 4:41 a.m. Upon arrival, a duplex had one side fully engulfed with the fire, extending to the other unit. One of the residence’s sustained injuries before being pulled from the home by the neighbor and other bystanders.
60-year-old Shelia Dowell, was transported by ambulance to the hospital and then via helicopter to Vanderbilt Hospital's burn unit. She later died of her injuries.
April 5
DeKalb County recorded its first roadway fatality of the year around 7:13 a.m. Cassie Maxwell, 18, of Alexandria lost her life in a two car crash.
A senior at DeKalb County High School, Maxwell was traveling east on Highway 70 in a 2018 Hyundai Elantra, and as she negotiated a right curve, she crossed unto the continuous turn lane, entered into an oncoming traffic lane striking a 2021 Nissan Rogue head-on according to Tennessee Highway Patrol. The Rogue was driven by Carly Newby, 24, of Rock Island.
Newby was injured and transported to a hospital in Murfreesboro.
April 12
Another head-on collision claimed the life of a 42-year-old Silver Point man. This crash happened in front of JBeez Water Sports on Highway 56 North. Tennessee State Trooper Brandon Johnson said Thomas Higginbotham of Silver Point was traveling north in a 1990 Ford Ranger when a 2015 Chevy Traverse driven by Eric D. Fish, 39, of Smithville was approaching him from the south in his lane. Both vehicles tried to avoid a crash, but ended up in the south bound lane hitting head on. Higginbotham had to be extricated from his vehicle which came to rest on its side. He was flown to Vanderbilt Hospital in Nashville from the scene where he succumbed to his injuries in the emergency room. Fish and his passengers, wife Janet Fish, 40, and son Derek Fish, 20, were all injured.
April 30
Zachary Tyler Parsley was a passenger in a 2012 Ford Escape driven by 19-year-old Sebastien Tarin of Manchester. That rainy morning the pair were traveling east on Interstate 24 in Rutherford County when the vehicle drove off the interstate, and into the median, before traveling through the grassy divide and into the Westbound lane of traffic. The small SUV then collided head-on with a 2015 Nissan Frontier pickup truck driven by 65-yearold Stanley Peterson of Beechgrove. All three died in the crash.
Parsley was an organ donor and saved many lives through his sacrifice.
May 4
An early morning accident claimed the life of 19 year-old Savannah Buckley of Cookeville. The collision happened just before 6am on Highway 70 in Liberty.
Buckley was traveling eastbound in a 2000 Ford Ranger when she was negotiating a curve and failed to maintain the proper lane, lost control and entered the westbound lane where Ryan Robinson, 31, of Sparta was traveling west in a 2005 Chevrolet Silverado. Buckley’s vehicle collided with Robinson’s vehicle coming to a final rest on the shoulder of the westbound lane. The Ranger was reported to have caught fire. The driver was found deceased at the scene. Robinson was transported by EMS to Ascension St. Thomas DeKalb Hospital.
May 4
An EF-0 tornado caused a line of damage through DeKalb County. According to the National Weather Service, at least 10 EF-0 tornados struck throughout Middle Tennessee, leaving destruction in Robertson, Cheatham, Davidson, Sumner, Trousdale, Jackson, Smith, DeKalb, White, Cumberland and Bedford counties.
An EF-0 tornado, with winds of 65-85 mph, is believed to have caused damage in DeKalb County, in a line from Alexandria to Ragland Bottom. Some witnesses even reported seeing a funnel cloud,
May 22
A weekend birthday celebration turned tragic after a Spring Hill man was killed while attempting to jump into Center Hill Lake from a rock bluff.
According to DeKalb County Sheriff Patrick Ray, 36-year-old Stephen Kyle Anderson was with his wife and two other couples on Center Hill Lake, celebrating Anderson’s birthday. While in the area of Holmes Creek, Anderson decided to climb a rock bluff in order to jump off into the lake. While attempting to climb the bluff, the rocks Anderson was holding onto gave way and Anderson fell and rolled down the bluff, hitting several rocks along the way before falling into the water.
June 19
A Cookeville man, wanted on kidnapping and sexual assault charges, was arrested at a Smithville business. Authorities say the man held a couple at gunpoint, before they were able to get away.
Cookeville Police said 29-year-old Tyler Hall was charged with one count of aggravated sexual battery and two counts of aggravated kidnapping, after he forced two Sam’s Club employees to drive him to Sparta in White County.
Hall displayed a black pistol and ordered the pair into the female victim’s car. Hall ordered the male victim to drive them to White County. Near Walmart in White County, the male victim was able to wrestle the gun away from Hall. Hall then ran from the scene. The following day, Hall was arrested by Smithville Police at the Dollar General Store.
June 25
The search for an endangered missing girl, and her father, ended with both being found. The bizarre case lead to many man hours being used by the DeKalb County Sheriff’s Department and multiple agencies.
Sheriff Patrick Ray said that on June 25, 34-year-old Nicholas Ray Reeder of Pea Ridge Road, Liberty, TN, was taken into custody and charged with failure to appear in court, as well as child abuse and custodial interference.
After an intensive search, a search dog was brought in, which eventually lead authorities to an outbuilding. The two were found barricaded inside with little to no ventilation, and little food or water.
The case began in March 2021, when authorities say Reeder knowingly endangered the life and physical wellbeing of his child, Kinzleigh, by driving his Nissan Rogue off the roadway, at Dry Creek and Pea Ridge Road, into a creek bed, where it got stuck during heavy rain and creek flooding.
According to the deputy who was called to the scene, a passerby spotted Reeder’s Nissan Rogue under the bridge in the creek between 1:00 and 2:00 a.m. on Thursday, March 18. No one was in the vehicle, but Reeder and the child were outside under the bridge.
Sheriff Ray explained that although Reeder had a home nearby, where he and his daughter reside, Reeder told the officer that he arrived at the bridge with the child earlier in the day with the intention of staying the night, even though it was cold and raining and the creek waters were rising. After setting up camp under the bridge, Reeder and the child left to get some groceries and other supplies, but returned later to the creek where Reeder’s Nissan Rogue got stuck.
July 4
Tragedy struck in Smithville on the Fourth of July after an apartment complex erupted in flames. Firefighters battled heat and heavy smoke as 10 units of the 20-unit complex were involved.
Smithville Fire Chief Charlie Parker told the Smithville Review that at 2:59 p.m. E-911 dispatchers were notified about the blaze at 425 Kendra Drive at the Towne’s Edge Village Apartments.
Everyone living in the units were able to evacuate the building safely, though according to Chief Parker, most got out with only the clothes they were wearing. Parker said that 10 units were affected, with 24 people living in those apartments.
July 14
Authorities investigated the scene of a mobile home fire, where the body of a 38-year-old man was found after the blaze was extinguished. Officials say that Jason Tallent, and employee with the City of Smithville and the owner of In the Flesh Photography, was found in the rubble.
July 21
Tragedy struck the small town of Liberty, after a day of summer fun turned tragic for a local family.
E-911 Central Dispatch received a call about a possible drowning on Smith Fork Creek in Liberty. The caller reported a female victim located under the Highway 70 Bridge that crosses the creek.
Authorities say that the female, later identified as 31-year-old Porsche Lynn Cantrell of Cedar Street Liberty, and two other people, were swimming in the creek under the bridge when the incident occurred.
Aug 13
Federal, state and local officials advised the public to avoid fishing or wading in Hickman Creek, and to also use an alternate source for watering animals until further notice. The affected area of Hickman Creek is located from Edgewood Street in Alexandria, approximately one-and-a-half mile downstream to the Highway 53 Bridge.
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency discovered an unknown substance seeping into Hickman Creek, that they suspect is the substance that contributed to more than 3,500 dead fish found in the area, along with crustaceans and insects.
In December the EPA declared the investigation over, with no more seepage entering the creek.
Aug 25
Law enforcement and Tennessee State troopers were led on a bizarre chase last Wednesday morning after a Cookeville man apparently severed his penis and tossed it onto the roadway. The pursuit of the man took officers through two counties before his vehicle was stopped using spike strips and boxing him in.
Authorities say the man, later identified as 39-year-old Tyson Gilbert, was driving erratically on Highway 70 and at one point pulled off of the highway, onto Old Liberty Road, and opened the door to his vehicle. Trooper Johnson drew his firearm and ordered Gilbert to exit the car, but the man refused. Gilbert was reportedly naked and covered in blood, and then threw something bloody out of the car onto the pavement before again driving away westbound towards Alexandria.
Gilbert continued to flee all the way to Lebanon, where authorities were able to box him in before he could reach I-40. There, law enforcement were able to place him into custody. He was then transported to Vanderbilt Medical Center in Nashville, where he was treated for serious injuries.
Sept 9
Local commuters were ensnarled in a major traffic jam after a man threatened to jump from a very high bridge over Center Hill Lake. At 4:32 a.m., the DeKalb County Sheriff’s Department received a call of a possible suicidal male wanting to jump off the Sligo Bridge on Highway 70 in the eastern part of the county.
Just seven minutes later deputies arrived on scene and came into contact with a middle-aged male standing on the bridge. He was later talked down and taken into custody.
Oct 20
The election commission completed the legal process of drawing precinct lines, a requirement following the county legislative body’s adoption of a district plan based on the 2020 federal census.
The voters moved from District 3 to District 2 under the redistricting plan have been assigned to the Snow Hill Community Center. Those moved from District 5 to District 6 have been placed at the Blue Springs Community Center precinct.
In addition, the commission combined three other voting precincts. Those who were voting at the Dowelltown Community Center have been assigned to vote at the Liberty Community Center precinct; those who were voting at Edgar Evins State Park have been assigned to the Temperance Hall precinct; and those who were voting at Belk have been assigned to the Keltonburg precinct.
Nov 21
51-year-old Albert Wayne Fisher, Jr. went on trial in DeKalb County Criminal Court for the fatal shooting of his stepson 37-year-old Tyler Durden. Durden, a drill sergeant in the U.S. Army, had been overseas and had come home that evening to surprise his mother, who lived in Eckles Heights in Liberty.
While wearing a “Scream” mask, Durden got into a confrontation with his stepfather, who pulled out a gun and shot Durden outside his home. Fisher would be found guilty of voluntary manslaughter in the case.
Dec 6
A local Marine was killed in California while trying to help a stranded motorists. Lance Cpl. Alberto Lucio, 20, had stopped on Interstate 5 in Oceanside, CA, after a Ford Edge crashed in the southbound lanes near Las Pulgas Road about 3:20 a.m. According to the California Highway Patrol, the vehicle was in the traffic lanes without its lights on as Lucio assisted the driver and a passenger. A box truck then careened into the disabled SUV, striking Lucio. He died at the scene.
Dec 7
A well-known man among local sports circles, was killed following a fire at his Jacobs Pillar home.
E-911 dispatchers received a call reporting a house fire at 5056 Jacobs Pillar Road. Upon arrival firefighters found the split-level home with fire engulfing the lower area of the structure. There was also a report of a person trapped inside.
Officials say 43-year-old Edward Layne “Big Ed” Lemons was discovered in the bedroom, apparently succumbing to smoke inhalation.
