Family Found Shot in Tenn. House
repost
wire:
Family Found Shot in Tenn. House
KNOXVILLE, Tenn. (AP) - A man with a history of domestic violence killed
his
wife and two children before turning the gun on himself, police said.
Christopher Clay Tillery Sr. was listed in critical condition Friday
evening at
the University of Tennessee Medical Center.
Police said he apparently used a 9 mm pistol to kill Diane Tillery, 27,
Christy
Tillery, 8, and Christopher Clay Tillery Jr., 6. The children were shot
in
their beds, and each victim was shot once, said police spokesman Foster
Arnett.
Police and Tillery's relatives said he was angered by rumors his wife
was
having an affair.
The shootings happened at about 3 a.m., but Tillery's relatives found
the
bodies hours later when they went to check on the family, police said.
They had
been worried about the family because of previous domestic problems.
Tillery, 30 was arrested in 1998 for assaulting his wife, according to
police
records. Authorities later conducted a follow-up check on Mrs. Tillery
but she
refused help, Arnett said.
AP-NY-01-29-00
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The following two news articles both appear courtesy of the 1/29/00
online
edition of The Knoxville News-Sentinel newspaper:
2 children, mom shot dead
Suspect critical after turning gun on self
January 29, 2000
By Don Jacobs, News-Sentinel staff writer
Christopher Clay Tillery left his construction job in Michigan on
Tuesday after
being told his wife of six years was being unfaithful.
Three days later, the 30-year-old man shot his sleeping 6-year-old son
and
8-year-old daughter in the head, shot his wife in the chest and then
turned the
9mm pistol on himself.
Relatives worried that Tillery and his wife hadn't been heard from
discovered
the grisly scene about 9:16 a.m. Friday. Inside the house in the
Lonsdale
community police found Diane Tillery, 27, dead in her bedroom and
Christopher
"Little Clay" Tillery Jr. and his sister, Christy Tillery, dead in
another
bedroom.
The children's father was found with a bullet wound to the head lying in
a
hallway outside the children's room. Near his body was a 9mm pistol, and
police
found an unloaded two-shot derringer in his pocket.
Clay Tillery, as friends and family called him, was rushed to the
University of
Tennessee Medical Center, where he was listed Friday evening in critical
condition.
"It was a very gruesome scene, a very tragic situation where two
children are
dead," said Knoxville Police Department Deputy Chief Jerry Day.
Police speculated Diane Tillery was killed first after a struggle in her
bedroom. She was clothed in pajamas.
The bodies were discovered by Sheila Tillery, 29, Lisa Littlejohn, 30,
and Eric
Sewell, 21. Sheila Tillery and Lisa Littlejohn are Clay Tillery's
nieces.
Clay Tillery's relatives said they were aware he was upset about
allegations
his wife had been unfaithful, and he had been in and out of town for the
past
two months while doing construction work in Detroit, Mich.
"I told him, 'Don't do nothing stupid,' and he said he wouldn't," Sheila
Tillery said as she stood Friday outside the victims' house at 1535
Delaware
Ave. in subfreezing weather.
Sheila Tillery had been speaking daily with her uncle. She last spoke
with him
at the Delaware Avenue house about midnight by telephone when he
promised to
pick her up Friday morning to return the 1983 Chevrolet Caprice Classic
he had
borrowed from her. Sheila Tillery said her uncle told her he intended to
return
to Michigan by bus Friday.
When Sheila Tillery called her uncle at 3:45 a.m., there was no answer.
"She tried to talk him out of doing anything," Day said of Clay
Tillery's
conversations with Sheila Tillery. "He told her he was going to find the
other
guy and kill him."
Lisa Littlejohn said she was afraid to enter the house Friday morning
when no
one answered her knocks on the door.
"We didn't want to go in there because we had a bad feeling," she said.
"We
didn't know he would take it to this."
When Clay Tillery arrived in town Tuesday morning, he was upset and
"real
quiet," Littlejohn said.
Diane Tillery had worked for about three years at Silver Furniture Co.
Inc.,
2742 Hancock St., relatives said. Janet Davis, 34, who also works at the
business, described herself as Diane Tillery's best friend. The two had
eaten
lunch together Thursday, Davis said.
"She said then that they had looked at legal options," Davis said. "She
said if
he (Clay Tillery) didn't trust her, that was the only thing they could
do."
Davis said Clay Tillery was unjustifiably jealous and that allegations
of
infidelity against Diane Tillery were untrue.
"She's been acting differently -- real quiet like," Davis said. "Her
mood
changes when he's back in town."
Authorities said Clay Tillery was arrested in 1998 on a charge of
domestic
violence against his wife. Records of the case apparently have been
expunged.
Frank Foxx, 42, who lives next door to the victims, was shocked by the
violence.
"I never expected it from him," Foxx said. "He was a nice and quiet guy
who was
always helpful. He helped me fix my car."
Day said the police officers who investigated the case would undergo
counseling
because of the gruesome nature of the slaying scene. One of the first
officers
to arrive once lived in the neighborhood and knew the family well. He
had
spoken last week to Christy Tillery and her mother.
Police had six chaplains on hand to console dozens of relatives and
friends who
gathered around the house as the bodies were removed. Police arranged
for
professional cleaners to clean the house so relatives wouldn't see any
signs of
violence.
--------------------------------------------------------------
Acquaintances fondly recall slain siblings
January 29, 2000
By Scott Barker, News-Sentinel staff writer
Eight-year-old Christy Tillery loved to read, but she never forgot to
look up
from her books to keep an eye on her little brother. More rambunctious
than his
sister, Christopher "Little Clay" Tillery Jr., 6, was a nut for sports
and
other physical play.
According to the director of their after-school program, both were
outgoing,
personable children. They admired their father and loved him dearly, one
neighbor said.
But police allege their father shot them dead Friday morning as they
slept at
their Delaware Avenue home. Christopher Clay Tillery Sr., 30, apparently
shot
his children and his wife, Diane Tillery, 27 before turning his 9mm
pistol on
himself, police said.
According to Knoxville Police Department Deputy Chief Jerry Day,
Christopher
Clay Tillery Sr. killed his family in a jealous rage because he thought
his
wife had been unfaithful.
The deaths of the youngsters shocked and saddened those who saw them
every day.
Retta Mathis, youth director at Wesley House Community Center, said the
children were in their first year in the program. Mathis said the
children gave
no indication that anything was amiss in their home.
According to Mathis, Christy took it upon herself to make sure nothing
bad
happened to "Little Clay."
"She was overprotective of him, like a mother hen," Mathis said. "Clay
was more
outgoing, trying to play all the games and all the sports."
Clay also liked riding his bicycle on the sidewalk in front of his
house,
according to neighbors.
"The little boy was a tiger. He was my little buddy," said next-door
neighbor
Frank Foxx. Foxx, whose 12-year-old son was Clay's playmate, said the
Tillery
children loved their father and "really looked up to him."
Christy celebrated her eighth birthday on Jan. 20. According to Mathis,
she was
planning to go on a trip to Funscape and CiCi's Pizza with other
children from
the center on Friday afternoon.
Both Tillery children attended Lonsdale Elementary School, just two
blocks from
their home. Christy was in second grade; Clay was in kindergarten.
Prinicipal Carolyn Lee referred all inquiries about the incident to Knox
County
Schools spokesman Mike Cohen.
Cohen said school officials were stunned by the killings. "This is
extremely
rare for us to have two students die," Cohen said.
Lonsdale administrators and teachers formed an in-house response team,
and the
school system has dispatched psychologists and counselors to help pupils
and
staff cope, Cohen said.
Counseling will also be available for children at Wesley House Community
Center, according to executive director Leroy Thompson. Thompson said
local
pastors have been asked to make themselves available to help children at
the
center.
"Unfortunately this has become a reality that young people are forced to
have
to deal with, and they shouldn't have to," Thompson said. "This will be
rough
on them."
Staff writer Don Jacobs contributed to this report.
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The following appears courtesy of the 1/30/00 online edition of The
Knoxville
News-Sentinel newspaper:
Lonsdale man who killed wife, children dies
Self-inflicted gunshot to head proves fatal
January 30, 2000
By Jamie Satterfield, News-Sentinel staff writer
A Lonsdale man who killed his wife and two young children before trying
to kill
himself died Saturday at the University of Tennessee Medical Center.
Christopher Clay Tillery Sr. was officially declared dead at 11:10 a.m.,
according to a hospital spokeswoman.
He had been placed on life support when he survived an attempt to end
his own
life after fatally shooting his family early Friday morning.
Knoxville Police Department Investigator A.J. Loeffler said Saturday the
agency
had been waiting to see if Tillery, who shot himself in the head,
survived
before filing criminal charges.
Autopsies on his wife, Diane Tillery, 27, and two children, Christy
Tillery, 8,
and Christopher "Little Clay" Tillery Jr., 6, also had been postponed,
Loeffler
said. Those forensic examinations likely will not be conducted now, and
Loeffler said arrangements had been made to release their bodies to
Diane
Tillery's relatives.
Diane Tillery's mother lives in Kentucky, and her father resides in
Louisiana,
he said. An obituary notice sent to the News-Sentinel Saturday evening
stated
that family and friends can visit at Cindy Simpson's home on Medaris
Street in
Clinton. Holley-Gamble funeral home in Clinton is in charge of
arrangements.
Funeral arrangements for Christopher Tillery Sr. had not been finalized
Saturday night. Jarnagin & Son Mortuary was in charge of those
arrangements.
Tillery is accused of shooting his wife in the chest around 3 a.m.
Friday
inside the Delaware Avenue house the couple had been renting in
Lonsdale.
Police said the couple struggled in their bedroom before Clay Tillery
killed
his wife.
Tillery also fatally shot the couple's two children in another bedroom
in which
the two had been sleeping before turning the gun on himself, police
said.
According to investigators, Tillery believed his wife was having an
affair, an
allegation that police said appears to be untrue. He abruptly left a
construction job in Michigan on Tuesday after hearing news of the
alleged
affair and returned to Knoxville.
Relatives have said Tillery was unusually quiet and subdued upon his
return and
remained convinced that his wife of six years had been unfaithful. When
a
relative tried to call Tillery Friday morning, no one answered.
Just after 9 a.m., three of his relatives went to the house to check on
Tillery, and his family and discovered the gruesome scene.
Police believe Little Clay was asleep in a bedroom he shared with his
sister
when he was shot in the head. Christy likely opened her eyes at the
sound of
that gunshot and was also shot in the head, police said.
Tillery left the bedroom before shooting himself in the head, according
to
police, but he did not die, instead lying on the floor for some six
hours.
The triple homicide shocked family, friends and neighbors and was
described by
police as the worst such killing in Knoxville in a decade.
According to police, Tillery was arrested in 1998 on a charge of
domestic
violence against his wife, but those records apparently were expunged.