In a quiet corner of Buchanan, Tennessee, a retired welder named Jacky Roy Ford, 65, was spending a Friday evening at his home, engaged in a simple game of cards with his 11-year-old grandson. This ordinary moment was shattered on August 28, 2015, when an intruder brought sudden and shocking violence into their lives. The male victim was a former member of the National Guard.
At approximately 7:30 p.m., a man concealed by a blue ski mask entered the residence on Highway 79.
The intruder addressed Ford by name, and as Ford turned to face him, he was shot twice, with one of the bullets striking him in the head. The assailant, described by the young grandson as a slender white male, approximately six feet tall and possibly in his late 30s, was wearing a sleeveless grey shirt with white writing on the back. After the shooting, the boy heard what he believed to be a car speeding away from the area near Point Pleasant Baptist Church.
The Henry County Sheriff's Department was immediately launched into a homicide investigation, with crime scene technicians and members of the Criminal Investigation Division descending on the home. In the initial stages of the inquiry, a clear motive for the murder was not apparent. Sheriff Monte Belew emphasized that the investigation was a top priority and made a public plea for assistance in solving the crime that had been committed in the presence of a child.
In the days that followed the tragic event, the Sheriff's Department offered a one-thousand-dollar reward for any information that would lead to an arrest. They urged anyone who might have been in the vicinity of Point Pleasant Baptist Church on the evening of the murder and noticed any unusual activity or vehicles to come forward. Despite these efforts and the detailed description of the suspect provided by the grandson, there have been no subsequent public announcements regarding any arrests, the identification of a suspect, or a resolution to the case. The question of who killed Jacky Ford and why remains unanswered, leaving a shadow over the small community.
