In the late summer of 2017, the life of 33-year-old Johnathan Stewart was tragically cut short in an act of violence that would later be detailed in a courtroom. On the afternoon of September 24, 2017, Stewart was found deceased on Selma Avenue in East Knoxville, having sustained a single gunshot wound to his upper left back. The incident unfolded near a house that was undergoing renovations, a detail that would become central to the investigation that followed.
In the immediate
aftermath of the shooting, Knoxville Police Department investigators were met with a wall of silence from the workers present at the renovation site. Despite being witnesses to the event, they initially denied having any knowledge of the shooter's identity. It wasn't until over a year later, on October 14, 2018, that a break in the case occurred. Several of these witnesses came forward and implicated Jeremy Jerome Hardison, also known as 'Big Country,' in the murder of Johnathan Stewart. Following these new statements, a grand jury indicted Hardison for first-degree premeditated murder in January 2019.
The subsequent investigation and trial brought the events of that day into sharper focus. Witnesses testified that Hardison shot Johnathan Stewart in the back. A search of Hardison's residence uncovered an AR-15 rifle that was consistent with the ballistics evidence recovered from the crime scene. In September 2021, a Knox County Criminal Court jury convicted Jeremy J. Hardison of the first-degree murder of Johnathan Stewart. He was subsequently sentenced to life in prison. Following his conviction, it was also revealed that Hardison was a person of interest in the disappearances of three other people in late 2017 and early 2018. Hardison later indicated his intent to appeal his conviction.
