In the early morning hours of June 10, 2015, a sense of unease settled over a home on Lone Mountain Road in the quiet community of Andersonville, Tennessee. Inside, a disturbance escalated, prompting a call to 911 from a woman concerned for her mother's safety. When deputies from the Anderson County Sheriff's Office arrived at the residence around 4:45 a.m., they discovered a tragic scene. Karen A.
Zahrobsky, a 66-year-old White female, was found deceased inside her home from a gunshot wound.
The subsequent investigation, a joint effort between the Anderson County Sheriff's Department and the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation, quickly focused on a man living in the home. This man was identified as William James McMillan, the 48-year-old boyfriend of Karen Zahrobsky's daughter, Christin Dixon. Both McMillan and Dixon resided at the Lone Mountain Road home with Zahrobsky. As investigators processed the crime scene and conducted interviews throughout the day, they gathered information that pointed to McMillan as the person responsible for Zahrobsky's death.
Later that Wednesday night, authorities arrested McMillan and charged him in connection with the fatal shooting. The initial charges filed against him were first-degree murder, voluntary manslaughter, and aggravated assault. He was booked into the Anderson County Detention Facility, where he was held on a $625,000 bond. An arrest warrant later revealed grim details of the incident, stating that McMillan had pointed a 12-gauge shotgun at Zahrobsky's head in the kitchen and pulled the trigger. According to the warrant, McMillan admitted during an interview to intentionally pulling the trigger without provocation.
In March 2017, the Anderson County Grand Jury indicted William James McMillan, then 50, on a charge of second-degree murder for the killing of Karen Zahrobsky. This charge superseded the initial charges filed at the time of his arrest. The case then moved to the Anderson County Circuit and Criminal Court for further legal proceedings.
