BROWNSVILLE, Tenn. — Two Haywood High School students are suspected in a shooting that killed a 16-year-old girl and injured another child after a basketball game Friday.
Christine Michael was headed home from the game at Ripley High School with three other teens when someone opened fire on their car, investigators said. Michael was shot in the back and killed, and a 13-year-old was injured.
Two suspects, 18-year-old Kevion Davis and 16-year-old Bishop Owens, were arrested. Haywood County Sheriff Billy Garrett said both were students at Haywood High, and both of them were on the football team.
The teens are charged with first-degree murder and three counts of attempted first-degree murder since there were four people in the car during the shooting.
Davis was arraigned Monday. The case will be turned over to the attorney general.
Authorities had no motive for the shooting and said Michael had no connection to whatever led to the shooting.
“But I can tell you it’s just a group of young people who were angry at each other for whatever reason and the only way they knew, or the best way they knew to solve the problem, was to grab guns and solve it and that’s not the answer,” Garrett said.
Christine Michael, who also attended Haywood High, was a straight-A student and president of her class.
“Christine was a promising student who had tremendous plans for her future and we are deeply saddened by her passing and the brilliant life that was extinguished Friday night,” said Haywood County Schools Superintendent Aimie Marsh.
Garrett said Michael caught a ride home with some guys and should have been in a car with someone else. She was a “good kid” who got caught in the crossfire.
“They robbed me of my child. They took my baby. They robbed me. I’ll never have grandchildren by her,” said Tiffany Michael, her mother.
According to court documents, Davis appeared in court Monday and is being held without bond. Owens is being held in a juvenile facility and his mother, Annie Owens, said her child is innocent.
“What’s happened is they got the wrong child. My child, Bishop Owens, anybody knows Bishop Owens didn’t do this. He didn’t do it y’all,” she said.
The Haywood County Sheriff isn’t ruling out more arrests in the case. Meanwhile, students returned to Haywood High School Monday morning where enhanced safety procedures are in place and grief counseling is available for students and staff.
