ANDERSON COUNTY, Tenn. — Update: March 20, 2019
An Anderson County Grand Jury handed down a 5-count indictment earlier this month against a woman charged in connection to the death of a Rocky Top man.
Christy Viola Comer was indicted on three counts of first-degree murder, one count of aggravated burglary, one count of aggravated robbery on March 5, according to court records. Two of the first-degree murder charges are because the homicide is alleged to have occurred during the commission of another felony.
She is scheduled to be arraigned on the indictment on March 29.
Comer was originally charged in sessions court for criminal homicide. The case was bound over to the grand jury on Jan. 22.
According to a state warrant filed in Anderson County Court, investigators believe Comer robbed and killed 83-year-old JC Copeland. Investigators believe Copeland had been strangled to death at his home.
The warrant claims Comer admitted to moving Copeland's body under the porch of the home. The warrant also claims Comer admitted to stealing property from inside and outside Copeland's home.
Update: Sept. 4, 2018
A woman has been arrested and charged in connection to the death of a Rocky Top man.
TBI agents announced early Saturday morning they arrested Christy Viola Comer from Rocky Top in connection to the homicide of 83-year-old JC Copeland.
The 37-year-old woman is charged with one count of criminal homicide and is in the Anderson County Jail on a $1 million bond.
According to a state warrant filed in Anderson County Court, investigators believe Comer robbed and killed Copeland. Investigators believe Copeland had been strangled to death at his home.
The warrant claims Comer admitted to moving Copeland's body under the porch of the home. The warrant also claims Comer admitted to stealing property from inside and outside Copeland's home.
Comer's next date in court is scheduled for Sept. 10.
Comer also has charges of criminal trespassing, theft, and probation violations on her record in Anderson County.
Court records also show she has a criminal history in Knox County, where she pled guilty to shoplifting charges in 2010 and trespassing charges in 2016.
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The Rocky Top community is on high alert after TBI Agents said Friday they are working alongside the Rocky Top Police Department to investigate a homicide.
According to the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation, a man who has been identified as JC Copeland, 83, was found dead outside a home on Jacksboro Avenue in Rocky Top.
The TBI said Copeland's body has been sent for an autopsy. Authorities haven't named a suspect as of Friday night.
Jacksboro Ave is about 2 blocks away from the Post Office on 2nd Street.
The news came as a shock to the community at large and Copeland's neighborhood.
Anderson County Schools Assistant Director Greg Deal said Lake City Elementary and Middle Schools were on soft lockdown after being told about a homicide investigation near the elementary school with people of interest still at large.
The lockdown was a precautionary measure, Deal added, with no direct threat. The soft lockdown was later lifted around 1 p.m.
At the request of 7th District Attorney General Dave Clark, TBI Agents are working alongside the Rocky Top Police Department, the Anderson County Sheriff’s Office, and the 7th Judicial District Crime Task Force in investigating the circumstances leading to the death.