Inset: Payton Wayne Nations (DeKalb County Sheriff’s Office). Background: The area in Rickman, Tennessee where Nations allegedly killed a mother and son (WSMV).
A 27-year-old man in Tennessee, accused of killing a 43-year-old mother and her 25-year-old son, was arrested over the weekend following a multi-county manhunt after he was spotted trying to push his car into a lake. Payton Wayne Nations was taken into custody on Sunday and charged with two counts of first-degree murder in the fatal shootings of Christina Denise Hawkins and Thomas Hawkins earlier that morning, authorities announced.
According to a news release from the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation (TBI), the agency was assisting with the murders of Christina and Thomas Hawkins, being conducted by the Overton County Sheriff’s Office.
Authorities said the mother and son were found dead outside of a residence in the 100 block of Freeman Drive in Rickman, which is about 90 miles east of Nashville. Both victims had suffered fatal gunshot wounds.
“During the course of the investigation, authorities developed information that Payton Wayne Nations was the individual responsible for shooting the victims,” the release said. “Agents obtained warrants for Payton Nations, charging him with two counts of First Degree Murder.”
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The DeKalb County Sheriff’s Office at about 12:19 p.m. on Sunday received a tip from a fisherman, who called and reported seeing a man at a rural boat ramp in Center Hill Lake attempting to push a car into the water, Nashville ABC affiliate WKRN reported. After pushing the vehicle into the lake, the fisherman said the man fled the area on foot.
A multi-agency search for Nations was launched. After a series of reverse 911 calls asking residents to be on the lookout for the suspect, police were able to obtain surveillance footage of Nations, a description of his clothing, and the directions in which he was traveling.
At about 5:30 p.m. on Sunday, a resident in Silver Point, Tennessee, said his daughter recognized Nations and called 911. Silver Point is about 25 miles southwest of Rickman.
“My daughter looks out the window and she says, ‘Dad, that guy that the cops are looking for — she called him the shooter — is outside,'” Daniel Whitehead told Nashville NBC affiliate WSMV. “Just thinking about something like that, that could happen — it’s pretty terrifying.”
Whitehead told the station that at least 20 law enforcement vehicles responded to his home. Troopers with the Tennessee Highway Patrol and deputies with the Putnam County Sheriff’s Office took Nations into custody without incident and transported him to the Overton County Jail. He is currently being held in lieu of $40 million bond.
Authorities have not disclosed any details about a possible motive for the murders.
