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Autopsy Results: TBI most wanted suspect out of Smyrna killed in I-840 incident

WILLIAMSON COUNTY, Tenn. (WKRN) — Autopsy results are in for the Smyrna man who was wanted for the attempted murder of his wife. Rodney Garrett was killed in an incident on a Middle Tennessee interstate Thursday.

Friday, the Medical Examiner’s Office said Garrett died from a self-inflicted gunshot wound before he was hit by traffic.


It happened 8:30 a.m. in the eastbound lanes near mile marker 42 on I-840 in Williamson County.

In a news conference held Thursday around 1 p.m. Tennessee Highway Patrol said a trooper observed a gentleman walking on I-840 that matched description of a suspect in a BOLO, who was carrying a weapon.

THP said when the trooper turned his blue lights on to approach the suspect, he ran into oncoming traffic and was hit by a car. THP added that the trooper never engaged the suspect or got close to him.

Friday, News 2 has reached out to THP for any new information in the investigation. They said there’s nothing else to add at this time.

Smyrna police said Garrett was accused of shooting his wife at a home on Almaville Road around midnight on November 1st.

The victim’s daughter, Christian Gentry, said her mother is still hospitalized but in stable condition.

She responded to the death of Garrett with this statement: “We’re upset that he died. We didn’t want that to happen. We are, however, happy he can not hurt anyone. We just wish he would have turned himself in, so it wouldn’t have led to this. This isn’t the justice we wanted.”

According to Gentry, the two had been together on and off for the past 11 years of their marriage.

The Tennessee Bureau of Investigation announced Garrett had been added to the Tennessee Most Wanted List Wednesday afternoon.