In the quiet community of Oakdale, Tennessee, the life of 28-year-old Dolly Meyers was tragically cut short in December 2015. The young mother was shot in the back and killed with a 12-gauge shotgun, her life taken in an instant within the walls of a trailer. The tragedy was compounded by the fact that three children, aged 16, 14, and three, were present in a bedroom of the home at the time of the fatal shooting.
The investigation swiftly pointed to a suspect, Erskine Andy Hunt Jr., who
was identified as Meyers' boyfriend. Prior to the fatal shooting, the couple had reportedly been involved in an argument at the residence of Meyers' mother, which led to them being asked to leave. At the time of the incident, Hunt was already facing pending charges in both Roane and Loudon counties. Although the state had previously attempted to have his bond on a theft charge revoked, those requests had not been granted.
Following the shooting, authorities quickly moved to apprehend Hunt. A judge ordered the revocation of his existing bond, and he was taken into custody and held in the Loudon County Jail. In January of the following year, a Morgan County grand jury was presented with the case against him.
Erskine Andy Hunt Jr. ultimately faced a trial for his actions on that December morning. A Morgan County jury found him guilty of second-degree murder. In addition to the murder conviction, Hunt was also found guilty on one count of unlawful possession of a firearm by a convicted felon, one count of attempted unlawful possession of a firearm by a convicted felon, and two counts of reckless endangerment. He also pleaded guilty to an additional charge of unlawful possession of a firearm by a convicted felon. For the brutal slaying of Dolly Meyers, the court imposed an effective sentence of thirty-three years of incarceration. An appeal was later filed, which contended that the evidence was insufficient for the second-degree murder conviction, but the trial court's judgments were ultimately affirmed.
