Mom Kills 2 Young Sons, Grandmother Before Turning Gun on Self in Apparent Triple Murder-Suicide

In a press conference, Sheriff Chris Davis revealed that he is familiar with the family impacted, sharing that deputies found four deceased bodies inside the home, two women and two boys. According to Davis, all four died from gunshot wounds with the preliminary investigation determining the case is an apparent triple murder-suicide.

"Here again, small-town America. Here again, I know the families," Davis said, per ABC affiliate WKRN and the New York Post. "We're going to do right by them. We're going to respect them, and we're going to do right by them." He described all four deceased as lifelong Humphreys County residents.

The "again" is in reference to another recent tragedy that rocked the area in October 2025, per The Tennessean, when an explosion at a weapons-making plant in nearby Hickman County cost 16 lives. Davis, who was named Tennessean of the Year on December 28 by the newspaper just days before this latest tragedy, said at that time that he knew several of those victims.

On Saturday, the sheriff confirmed to NBC affiliate WSMV the identities of the deceased in this case, which included 32-year-old Heather Thompson, her two sons Isiah Johnson, 13, and Arius Thomas, 4, and her 88-year-old grandmother, Evelyn Johnson.

Authorities believe at this time, based on the evidence at the scene, that Heather was the shooter, killing all three members of her family before turning her weapon on herself and taking her own life. No motive has been released for the killings, though. Neither did the sheriff offer who requested the welfare check in the first place.

Davis told reporters that Heather was estranged from the boys' father, Biah Thompson. The father reportedly commented on the sheriff's office Facebook post about the incident, as reported by Law&Crime, writing, "I miss my sons already. Daddy still loves you. Sorry I was at work."

According to Biah's Facebook page he lives in Albuquerque, New Mexico and has launched a GoFundMe in an effort to "Bring My Boys Back Home to New Mexico" for burial. Funeral arrangements have not yet been made, according to Biah's post dated January 2.

"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," he wrote in that post. "They were just babies. Every second of today I wish I could just wake up."

Investigators reported finding no history of domestic violence or mental health-related calls associated with the Thompson household, per WKRN.

At this time, though there is no indication anyone else was involved, the Sheriff's Office and Tennessee Bureau of Investigation are considering it an open investigation, urging anyone in the public with any information about the case to come forward. They are also awaiting autopsy results to confirm the suspected causes of death.

 If you or someone you know needs help with mental health text “STRENGTH” to the Crisis Text Line at 741-741. You can also call 988 to be connected to a trained crisis counselor. Both services offer free, confidential 24/7 support for people in distress.