On March 18, 2022, 20-year-old Brionah Tester was found deceased in an apartment on McCall Circle in Johnson City, Tennessee. A preliminary investigation revealed that the young woman had sustained a single gunshot wound. Friends and family remembered her as a sweet, kind, and free-spirited person who could light up a room with her smile and would go out of her way to help anyone.
The investigation into her death led authorities to Billy Joe Anderson of Johnson City. Witnesses provided information that implicated Anderson, who had been staying at the apartment intermittently. Investigators believe an altercation occurred earlier in the day which resulted in Anderson firing a single shot that struck and killed Tester. Her family expressed their deep loss and called for justice in the wake of her tragic death.
In May 2022, a Washington County grand jury returned an indictment against Billy Joe Anderson for the murder of Brionah Tester. He was charged with second-degree murder, unlawful possession of a weapon, alteration of permanent identification numbers, and tampering with evidence. At the time of the indictment, Anderson was already incarcerated at the Washington County Detention Center on unrelated charges. His bond for the charges related to Tester's death was set at $100,000.
In February 2024, Billy Anderson pleaded guilty to the second-degree murder of Brionah Tester. In July of that year, he was sentenced to 40 years in prison for her murder. This sentence was to be served consecutively with a 35-year sentence for an attempted first-degree murder charge stemming from an incident where he attacked a fellow inmate while incarcerated.
