Shortly after the new year, one family was thrown into turmoil after a woman allegedly committed a murder-suicide. Heather Thompson, a woman living in Tennessee, reportedly shot and killed her two sons and elderly grandmother before shooting herself. Thompson and her family were living in the small town of Waverly, where it appears that they were well-known by law enforcement, who are keeping many details about the case under wraps. As far as authorities knew, there had never been any problems in her home, so the killings came as a complete shock. Her estranged husband has also shared that there had been no indication she would have committed such a horrific crime.
The shootings took place on January 2, 2026, Humphreys County Sheriff Chris Davis said, according to WSMV. Davis said a call came in for a welfare check to the home, but he gave no information about who called.
When deputies entered the home, they found four people, two women and two juvenile males, all related. All four had gunshot wounds, and deputies found a weapon in the home.
“We are investigating as if it’s a homicide-type situation,” the sheriff said, per WSMV. “Like I’ve said in the past, we only get one shot at these things. We’re going to make sure we do the very best we can for our victims.”
Davis revealed that he knew the family involved in the shooting, adding that the investigation will be a slow process. Because of his relationship with the family, details about what deputies found at the crime scene were not described. The Tennessee Bureau of Investigation will assist with the investigation.
The sheriff later identified the victims as 4-year-old Arius Thompson, 13-year-old Isaiah Johnson, and 88-year-old Evelyn Johnson, WSMV reported. Deputies identified the fourth person as 32-year-old Heather Thompson. Davis shared that evidence points to her fatally shooting the victims before turning the gun on herself.
“Here again, small town America. Here again, I know the families. So, we’re going to do right by them,” he shared with WSMV. “We’re going to respect them. We’re going to do right by them.”
Jeremiah “Biah” Thompson, biological father of Arius Thompson and stepfather of Isaiah Johnson, spoke with the outlet about the shock he’s experiencing since their deaths.
“It’s my boys. I just can’t believe she did this,” he said. “My wife was a good person. I just don’t understand how this happened.”
Thompson explained that he and Heather Thompson were separated, but the estranged couple were still on good terms and spoke frequently. Even though he was Isaiah’s stepfather, he had been in the boy’s life since he was a baby.
“Isaiah, he was starting to get into a lot more sports,” Thompson said. “Then Ari he just liked to bother his brother a lot. But like to be around his brother, play with him, mess with him when the game’s on the line, like Fortnite or shut off the game on him. The whole typical brotherly love thing,” he shared, per WSMV 4.
“Initially, I thought when she said they were gone, I thought like they all moved away. Which blew my mind because my wife and I, we were going to get a house out here,” he said.
Thompson drove to Waverly after the boys’ death to plan their funeral. “I’m sorry if I’m not feeling emotional. The first four or five hours, I think I cried everything out. I think I’m numb to everything. It does, it does suck,” he said of his emotional state.
“As a father it hurt and shattered my soul to hear my sons, Arius(Ari) and Isaiah have been taken from me and are no longer with us,” the grieving father wrote in a Facebook post. “They were just babies. Every second of today i wish i could just wake up.”
According to Thompson, there were no warning signs from Heather that something was wrong. If she was feeling “overwhelmed,” he said she could have reached out to him for help.
“If you were feeling overwhelmed, why didn’t you just let me know? Like, you can just say, hey, like, hey Biah, like I need a break. Can you please just take the boys for the summer or for the rest of the year? I would have gladly done that,” Thompson told WSMV 4.
A GoFundMe account was created by Thompson to help with funeral costs and to bring the boys’ bodies from Tennessee to New Mexico.
Note: If you or any of your loved ones are struggling with suicidal thoughts, you can always reach out to the 988 Suicide & Crisis Lifeline by calling 988. They are available 24/7 by phone or online chat.
