In the quiet town of Seymour, Tennessee, a distress call to 911 shattered the evening calm on July 25, 2024, marking the tragic end for 51-year-old Clinton Allen Lovingood. A White male, Lovingood had reached out to law enforcement for help with a disturbance involving his roommate. During that fateful call, dispatchers heard a loud noise that would later be identified as the gunshot that claimed his life.
Soon after, a second call came into the 911 center; this time it was his roommate, 40-year-old Robert P. Berry, admitting to the shooting.
When deputies from the Blount County Sheriff's Office arrived at the Maples Road residence, they found Berry, who surrendered to them peacefully. Inside the home, a grim scene awaited. Lovingood was discovered with a gunshot wound to his chest, inflicted by a 12-gauge shotgun. Paramedics who were called to the scene worked to revive him, but their efforts were ultimately unsuccessful, and he was pronounced dead at the scene. His body was then taken to the Knox County Regional Forensics Center.
Following the incident, Robert P. Berry was taken into custody and charged with criminal homicide. He was booked into the Blount County Correctional Facility, where he was held on a $1 million bond. The investigation into the shooting continued with the assistance of the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation. Berry was scheduled for a court appearance in Blount County General Sessions Court on July 31, 2024. While the immediate events of that night are clear, the motive and the specific details of the disturbance that led to the fatal encounter remain part of the ongoing investigation.
