At some point in our lives, we’ve all made statements we don’t mean. We probably all uttered the words “I’m going to kill you” to a sibling when we were kids. Or we might have announced our parents were “going to kill us” because of something bad we did. In most situations, those statements can’t be taken literally. We exaggerate to make the story seem bigger. But what happens when you make that kind of statement at work? In some cases, you might land in the human resources office for a talk or a write-up.
Jill-Marie Haynes, a teacher in Tennessee, allegedly made a pretty nasty threat against a coworker that landed her in jail. But Haynes claims it was just a bad joke.
Haynes works as a first-grade teacher at Stewarts Creek Elementary School in Smyrna, WZTV reported. On November 4, 2025, Haynes and another teacher had a verbal confrontation after the woman entered Haynes’ classroom. The 12th-year teacher then reportedly followed the teacher into another classroom and blocked the doorway. Haynes allegedly made threats about “chopping her” with a paper cutter and sending her to the hospital.
Police ultimately arrested Haynes, who made a written statement confessing she “made a very poor joke about using a paper chopper,” per the outlet. She posted a $6,000 bond, and officials released her the same day. The school district placed Haynes on unpaid leave pending an investigation.
As news of Haynes’ arrest spread, many defended Haynes on the Murfreesboro Pulse Facebook page.
“This makes me so sad because I know Jill as a colleague and a friend. She was and is an extremely effective teacher and well loved by her peers,” one person wrote. “I feel something terrible had to transpire for Jill to react in this way if the allegations are accurate. My thoughts and prayers go out to her.”
Others tried to see both sides of the story.
“I always try to play devils advocate and could believe she may have been joking (like someone mentioned here), but then as an educator, you can’t pull out a paper cutter and say something like that (as ‘witnesses’ have confirmed). Very poor choice/decision regardless if she was joking or not,” another person shared.
But not everyone wanted to give Haynes the benefit of the doubt. If she really made that kind of joke in school, some adults don’t appreciate it.
“Embarrassing for an educator especially at your place of work with children. What happened to self control that we teach children??” a comment reads.
Haynes faces charges of aggravated assault and false imprisonment.
Yikes. Making an idle threat is one thing, but holding up a potential weapon is another. We truly hope she was kidding and no students saw her. It’s not a great example if they did.
