Knoxville: Black in Custody for Killing White Mother, Her Daughter and Her Roommate

The police said the victims knew the suspect, but we’re not told more than that.

I’ve no doubt that some virulent mudsharking was afoot here.

Knox News:

A Knoxville man has been taken into custody in connection with a triple homicide that left three women dead at two different locations over the weekend.

Desmon Paul Rhea, 24, was arrested for revocation of probation Sunday at a Burbury Lane residence, near the scene where two of the three victims were discovered, according to a Knoxville Police Department news release.

Charges are pending against Rhea, who is being held without bond, police said. The case will be handed over to the Knox County District Attorney’s office.

Desmon Paul Rhea

KPD identified the victims at a news conference Monday as Juliana White (also known as Juliana Fraley), 29; White’s mother, Mildred Blackwell, 55; and Barbara Rogers, 57, Blackwell’s roommate.

“We typically don’t do this a ton, but based on the circumstances of this one — having three deceased in a homicide — we felt it important to get it out and let the community and all of you hear from us,” KPD spokesman Scott Erland said.

Authorities found White at 4:38 a.m. Sunday, dead in the roadway along Division Street, just west of Liberty Street, in West Knoxville. She had multiple gunshot wounds to her torso, police said.

Soon after, investigators responded to a house on the 6600 block of Trousdale Road, where Blackwell and Rogers were found dead from gunshot wounds.

Monday, Erland named the victims, said words of comfort for their friends and families and then praised a handful of investigators who helped locate Rhea 12 hours after the initial call came in.

“We grieve alongside you and want to say that the grief and dismay was channeled into a concerted effort to identify and apprehend the perpetrator of this unspeakable act,” Erland said. “We only hope that our work brings justice and clarity and ultimately leads to some semblance of closure for those left behind.”

Mildred and Juliana White
Barbara Rogers