KNOXVILLE, Tenn. — A 36-year-old Greeneville man who police said went on an East Tennessee crime spree in the summer of 2021 faces indictment on counts alleging he killed a Knoxville woman and injured her husband in a crash.
A grand jury has returned counts of vehicular homicide, reckless endangerment, theft and evading arrest against Larry Wayne Hipps in Knox County Criminal Court, records show.
Hipps is in a Hardeman County, Tenn., prison serving a prior sentence for Greene County offenses that include theft, Tennessee Department of Correction records show.
Hipps is to be arraigned May 13 in Criminal Court.
The charges stem from July 2021 when he's alleged to have killed Barbara Moore Williams with a vehicle. He's also alleged to have endangered her husband Cliff Williams.
A Knox County grand jury returned the indictment on April 21.
On the morning of July 9, 2021, deputies spotted Hipps at a car wash. He fled in a stolen 2007 Ford, and authorities chased him. He ended up on Rifle Range Road.
The Williamses, in their 2011 Honda, also were driving on Rifle Range Road, a county crash report states. Barbara Williams was in the passenger seat. The couple, in their 80s, had just observed their 63rd wedding anniversary days before, according to her obituary.
Hipps, who was speeding, went into the Williamses' lane of traffic and clipped their Honda, the traffic crash report states.
Barbara Williams died as a result of the crash.
Hipps and a female passenger, identified as Jessica Turner, 22, fled on foot.
Greene County authorities later issued a warning to the public to look out for Hipps, wanted on multiple warrants.
"He is known to steal vehicles and run from law enforcement. If anyone has location information or sees him, please call 911 immediately. Do not try to apprehend!" the Greene County Sheriff's Office warned in a July 24, 2021, Facebook post.
Hipps was also wanted in Buncombe County, N.C.
He was taken into custody Aug. 5, 2021, in Cocke County, with "multiple agencies" helping in his arrest, according to Greene County authorities.
