In the small town of Monterey, Tennessee, a story of fear and violence culminated in the tragic death of 39-year-old Angela Dell Harville. On Sunday, October 25, 2015, she was found deceased in her home on East Williams Street, the victim of a fatal gunshot wound. The events of that day were the final chapter in a history of domestic turmoil that had been escalating in the time leading up to her death.
Hours before her life was taken, Angela Harville had reached out for help, making
desperate calls to 911. In the early morning hours, she reported that her husband, Daniel Paul Harville, from whom she was separated, was attempting to break into her home and had been beating on the door and walls. She informed dispatchers that he had recently been released from a mental health facility following a suicide attempt. In a terrifying sequence of events, Daniel Harville slashed the tires on Angela's vehicle and cut her brake lines before leaving the immediate vicinity.
Despite Angela's pleas for intervention, law enforcement officers who responded to her calls did not arrest her husband. In a subsequent 911 call, a distraught Angela expressed her frustration, stating that the police 'wouldn't let me' make a domestic violence report and that she feared her husband was going to kill her. Officers had reportedly encouraged her to leave her home and go to a shelter with her children, an offer she declined out of fear that her husband would burn down their house. Later, police located Daniel Harville at a convenience store and retrieved Angela's cell phone from him, but he was allowed to go free.
The situation reached its devastating conclusion when authorities were called to the Harville residence at approximately 1:45 p.m. Inside, they discovered the bodies of both Angela and Daniel Harville. The investigation, a joint effort between the Monterey Police Department and the Putnam County Sheriff's Office, concluded that Daniel Paul Harville had shot and killed his wife before turning the gun on himself in a murder-suicide. This tragic outcome unfolded while their two sons, ages 17 and 6, were locked inside a room in the house. The incident left the community in shock and raised questions about the handling of domestic violence calls.
