In May of 2013, the quiet community of Soddy-Daisy, Tennessee, was shaken by the violent death of 35-year-old Tammy Hale Releford. Her life was cut short in a brutal act of domestic violence that ended in a multi-state manhunt for the man responsible, her husband.
Tammy, who was pregnant at the time, was found deceased in her home on Lovell Road. An investigation by the Hamilton County Sheriff's Office revealed a scene of horrific violence.
She had been beaten so severely that authorities initially had difficulty determining if she had also been shot.
The suspect in her murder was identified as her 34-year-old husband, Terry Lee Releford. The investigation into Tammy's death uncovered another heinous crime committed by Terry on the same day. He had abducted a 15-year-old girl, restraining her with duct tape before sexually assaulting her at gunpoint. One of two juvenile females living in the home was able to escape and alert a neighbor, which led to the discovery of Tammy's body.
Terry Releford had a violent criminal past, having previously served 15 years in prison for charges that included aggravated rape, aggravated kidnapping, and conspiracy to commit first-degree murder. He had married Tammy just three months after his release from prison.
Following the discovery of his wife's body, Terry Releford fled the area, sparking an intense search by law enforcement. He was eventually tracked to a Budget Inn motel in Calhoun, Georgia. As members of a SWAT team attempted to negotiate his surrender, Terry Releford took his own life, dying from a self-inflicted gunshot wound. His death brought an end to the criminal investigation in Tennessee, leaving a grieving community to mourn the tragic loss of Tammy Releford.
