Christopher Lee Helser, a 36-year-old White male from Pleasant View, Tennessee, spent the night of April 8, 2019, at his family’s home on Jack Teasley Road, a rural address near Interstate 24 outside Coopertown. Sometime around 10 p.m., what should have been an ordinary evening for the father of three turned into a confrontation that would end his life and shatter the sense of safety around the quiet country road.
Deputies later noted the call of gunshots came in at about 10:15 p.m., summoning the Robertson County Sheriff’s Office to the Helser residence.
The violence grew out of a dispute centered on Helser’s 17-year-old son, Mark. According to investigators and local news reports, 21-year-old Travis A. Presley drove to the home that night with a semi-automatic 9mm handgun, intending to confront his friend—Mark—over an argument that had developed between them. Witnesses later told authorities that Presley stepped out of his vehicle with the gun visible in his right hand, and a heated verbal exchange began in the yard outside the house. What started as an argument between two young men rapidly became a far more dangerous encounter as tempers rose and the presence of the weapon loomed over every word.
Seeing his son in danger, Helser left the house and moved between Presley and Mark. Family and witness statements describe him putting himself physically in the line of fire, yelling at Presley to leave and using his body to push the younger man back from his son. In those tense moments, the mood on the dark roadside shifted from shouting to horror. Presley fired multiple shots at close range, striking Helser in front of his family’s home. Inside, his longtime partner, Nickie Humphrey, was with their youngest child when the gunfire echoed through the house, and by the time the chaos subsided, Helser lay mortally wounded in the yard.
Emergency dispatchers received reports that a man had been shot several times and was unresponsive. When deputies arrived at the residence on Jack Teasley Road, they found Helser already beyond help and pronounced him dead at the scene. The sheriff’s office later confirmed publicly that he had died from injuries sustained in the shooting. Presley, who had called 911 after the shooting, did not remain at the home; instead, he drove away and was found a short distance down the road. Deputies located him near an intersection off Jack Teasley Road and took him into custody without further incident.
Authorities identified the suspect as Travis A. Presley of Pleasant View. He was arrested and charged with criminal homicide and booked into the Robertson County Detention Facility. Sheriff’s officials and local reporters noted that his bond was set at $500,000, underscoring the seriousness of the charge. From the outset, investigators pointed to the dispute between Presley and Helser’s 17-year-old son as the catalyst for the killing, explaining that Helser was shot only after stepping in to protect his child during the confrontation. No additional suspects have been publicly named in connection with the case, and official statements have consistently focused on Presley as the sole alleged offender.
In the days that followed, Helser’s family tried to put words to who he had been before his name became synonymous with a homicide investigation. A local television segment portrayed him as a devoted father who died doing exactly what he was known for—standing up for the people he loved. His partner, Nickie, described him as someone who would protect his family “a thousand times” over, even if it meant putting himself in harm’s way. His children spoke of a man who believed in the goodness of others, who thought that everyone had “a heart of gold” despite their flaws. Their grief was compounded by the practical reality that he left behind three children—ages 1, 17, and 18—who depended on him.
Community members rallied quickly to support the family. A memorial service was arranged at Greenville United Methodist Church in Joelton, giving relatives, friends, and neighbors a chance to say goodbye. An online fundraiser was set up to help cover expenses and provide for Helser’s children, describing him as a joyful presence with a contagious smile, someone who “would do anything for anyone” and whose devotion to his family was immeasurable. Elsewhere, an online memorial page devoted to victims of gun violence recorded his death in Pleasant View on April 8, 2019, and noted the candles lit in his memory as people across the community tried to process the senseless loss.
Publicly available records and news coverage focus heavily on the night of the shooting, the immediate investigation, and Presley’s arrest on a criminal homicide charge. Beyond those initial reports, later proceedings—such as detailed court hearings, a trial, or any final judgment—are not widely documented in accessible sources. As a result, the ultimate legal resolution of the case remains unclear in the information that is publicly available, even as the core facts endure: a father stepped between an armed man and his teenage son on a quiet Tennessee road, and paid with his life for trying to protect his child.
