SEVIER COUNTY, Tenn — The state of Tennessee is offering a $10,000 reward to find out who shot and killed a father and daughter in Sevier County last Christmas Eve.
So far, investigators have not identified any suspects in the double homicide.
The Sevier County Sheriff's Office said its 911 center received a call at 9:30 p.m. on December 24, 2021, about a shooting at the 800 block of Asheville Highway near Strawberry Plains.
When officers arrived at the home, they found the bodies of a man and a woman who had been shot.
Investigators identified the victims as Edward Atkins, 70, and Melissa Burgess-Smith, 43. They were father and daughter and lived in the home together.
An autopsy report from the Knox County Regional Forensic Center said someone shot Atkins once. The bullet entered his left cheek and exited the right side of the neck.
Someone shot Burgess-Smith twice -- once in the mid-back and once in the left buttock -- according to an autopsy report.
Atkins had a small amount of alcohol in his system at the time of his death, the autopsy report said.
Burgess-Smith had methamphetamine in her system as well as norbuprenorphine, amphetamine, and buprenorphine, according to an autopsy report. The report said buprenorphine is only available in the U.S. in a prescribed formulation to treat opioid addiction that also contains the overdose reversal drug naloxone. The report said buprenorphine is metabolized into norbuprenorphine in the liver.
According to the autopsy report, both were last known to be alive around 4:30 p.m. that day. The report said Jeffery Atkins, the man's brother, had talked to them on the phone at that time.
According to the death summary in the report, investigators did not find a weapon at the scene. Two spent cartridges were found near the woman's body, and another was found outside on the porch.
After the shooting, one neighbor said they didn't hear any gunshots; however, they did see police around the property later in the evening.
Police took memory cards from that neighbor's surveillance cameras, but SCSO said it did not see any suspects in the footage.
Jeffery Atkins said at the time he thinks the killings of his brother and niece could be drug-related.
Anyone with information should call the Sevier County Sheriff's Office at (865) 453-4668.