In March of 2019, the life of 23-year-old Makayla Laray Manning, a female from Crossville, Tennessee, was tragically cut short. On the evening of March 12th, authorities were called to a residence on Vandever Road where they discovered a violent scene. Makayla had been fatally shot, and two other individuals, Joseph Manning and Eleashea Alene Curry, were found wounded.
The investigation into Makayla's death quickly led to a suspect, John Patrick Fields, a 47-year-old man from Pikeville.
He was taken into custody at the scene of the shooting. The events of that night were part of a larger, violent episode. Earlier the same day, the body of another individual, 47-year-old Lowell 'Chip' Simmons II, was discovered in a trash pile at a vacant lot on Critter Creek Road. Investigators linked Fields to this death as well.
Following his arrest, John Patrick Fields was charged with two counts of first-degree murder for the deaths of Makayla Laray Manning and Lowell Simmons II. He also faced two counts of attempted first-degree murder for the injuries sustained by Joseph Manning and Eleashea Alene Curry. Fields was booked into the Cumberland County Jail on a $5 million bond. It was later revealed that Fields had a prior criminal history, including a conviction for voluntary manslaughter in 1998 for which he had served time in prison. A grand jury indicted Fields on the charges related to the March 2019 incidents, and he was arraigned in Cumberland County Criminal Court.
