COFFEE COUNTY, Tenn. (WKRN) — A gunman executed a hostage in front of his pregnant wife during a weekend crime spree spanning several Tennessee counties, according to friends of the victims.
The suspect, accused of killing two people and wounding at least three others was identified by the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation as Dangelo Dorsey, a St. Louis man, who eventually took his own life.
During a news conference Sunday night, David Rausch, the director of the TBI said the situation began around 9:30 a.m., when Dorsey opened fire inside of a vehicle traveling along Interstate 24 near the Beechgrove exit. He killed one person inside the vehicle with him, identified as 28-year-old Darcey Johnson, and wounded another, the director explained.
As traffic stopped along the interstate, Rausch said Dorsey got out of the vehicle he was in and attempted to carjack another driver, but that driver ran away. He then reportedly approached a nearby truck and shot that driver in the face during an exchange between the two.
Rausch said Dorsey attempted to carjack another driver, but as she drove away, he fired a shot through the car’s window, striking her in the hand.
Dorsey drove off in a vehicle and rear-ended a car belonging to Phillip Jordan Stevens, 23, and his wife, Aileen, according to the TBI. When the couple stopped, believing it was just a fender-bender, investigators said Dorsey took the couple hostage. The TBI reported Dorsey then forced them to drive him to their home in Morrison, where he took two firearms, swapped vehicles and left with the hostages.
In the coming hours, Rausch said Dorsey took the couple to the McMinnville area, where he separated them, and then executed Phillip Jordan Stevens, in view of his wife. Dorsey then reportedly forced Aileen Stevens back into the vehicle and they returned to the interstate.
The body of Phillip Jordan Stevens was later recovered along I-24 westbound near Exit 111-B, according to investigators.
Law enforcement located Dorsey’s vehicle traveling eastbound on I-24 around 3:30 p.m. Following a pursuit that reached speeds of approximately 100 miles per hour, Dorsey crashed, then took his own life, investigators said.
Aileen Stevens, who friends said is pregnant, was found in the crashed vehicle and was not seriously injured, Rausch added.
A GoFundMe page set up to benefit the Stevens family raised $5,000 within 12 hours.
Dorsey had no adult arrest record in Tennessee and was not wanted by law enforcement on any outstanding warrants, Rausch said Monday morning. He added Dorsey does have an “extensive criminal record” in his home state of Missouri.
The incident remains under investigation by the TBI.
