Tyler Terry: The Multi-State Killer Behind a Deadly 2021 Crime Spree
Overview
Tyler Donnett Terry was responsible for a violent series of murders, shootings, robberies and attempted killings that crossed three states during May 2021. Accompanied by his girlfriend, Adrienne Renee Simpson, Terry traveled through South Carolina, Missouri and Tennessee while leaving five people dead and several others wounded or endangered. The crimes occurred over approximately two weeks and ultimately led to a massive police pursuit and one of the largest manhunts in recent South Carolina history.
Although Terry is sometimes described as a serial killer because he participated in five separate murders, his crimes are more precisely characterized as a multi-state killing spree. The attacks happened in rapid succession without a significant cooling-off period. Some of the victims had personal connections to Terry or Simpson, while others appear to have been selected during robberies or apparently random encounters.
Tyler Terry and Adrienne Simpson
Terry was 26 years old at the time of the murders. Adrienne Simpson, who was in her early thirties, was not merely a passenger during the crime spree. Prosecutors accused her of assisting Terry, driving vehicles during some of the attacks and participating in the events surrounding several killings. The pair were later compared in news reports to a modern-day “Bonnie and Clyde,” although the description risked obscuring the fear, suffering and loss they caused.
The violence began in South Carolina on May 2, 2021. Investigators said Terry killed Thomas Hardin in York County and then joined Simpson in killing her estranged husband, Eugene O'Brien Simpson, in Chester County. During the same period, Terry was also accused of firing at other people in Chester, including during incidents near Ehrlich Street and a Taco Bell on the J.A. Cochran Bypass.
The Murder of Thomas Hardin
Thomas Hardin, 35, was killed on May 2, 2021, on Lowry Row in York, South Carolina. Hardin identified and lived as a woman and was personally acquainted with Terry. Investigators later reported that Hardin and Terry had previously been romantically involved.
According to information developed during the investigation, Terry shot Hardin while Simpson was nearby. Simpson was initially accused of being an accessory after the fact, but the investigation ultimately connected both members of the couple to the larger series of crimes. Hardin's death became one of the first known killings in a spree that would soon extend hundreds of miles beyond South Carolina.
The Murder of Eugene O'Brien Simpson
Eugene O'Brien Simpson, 33, was Adrienne Simpson's estranged husband. He disappeared on May 2, 2021, the same day Hardin was killed. Eugene's mother reported him missing after he failed to return and could not be contacted.
Investigators said Terry and Adrienne Simpson picked Eugene up before killing him in Chester County. His body was concealed in a ditch and was not discovered until May 20, 2021, more than two weeks after he vanished. Authorities subsequently charged Terry and Simpson with his murder.
The killing had an intensely personal dimension because of Eugene's marital connection to Adrienne Simpson. It also demonstrated that the pair were willing to target people they knew before moving on to victims who apparently had no meaningful connection to them.
The Journey to Missouri
After the South Carolina killings, Terry and Simpson traveled west. By May 15, 2021, they had reached the St. Louis County area of Missouri. That night, two separate shootings occurred within a relatively short period. Ballistics evidence and other investigative findings connected the attacks.
The Missouri victims were Barbara Goodkin and Dr. Sergei Zacharev. Authorities described the attacks as robberies involving victims who appeared to have been chosen because the couple encountered them while moving through the area.
The Shooting of Barbara and Stanley Goodkin
Barbara Goodkin, 71, and her husband, Stanley Goodkin, were driving along Delmar Boulevard near University City, Missouri, on the night of May 15, 2021. Terry and Simpson confronted the couple and opened fire on their vehicle.
Barbara was shot in the head. Stanley was struck in the torso and leg but remained capable of driving away and reaching medical assistance. Barbara was taken to a hospital, where she died from her injuries. Although some records list the shooting date as her date of death, contemporary reports stated that she died after being hospitalized following the May 15 attack.
Stanley survived, becoming one of the most important living witnesses to the destruction caused during Terry and Simpson's Missouri crimes. The attack appeared sudden and unprovoked, transforming an ordinary drive home into a fatal encounter.
The Murder of Dr. Sergei Zacharev
Approximately an hour after the Goodkins were attacked, police were called to a parking area near the Drury Inn and Bonefish Grill at 8700 Eager Road in Brentwood, Missouri. Officers found Dr. Sergei Zacharev suffering from a fatal gunshot wound.
Zacharev, reported as 58 in court and law-enforcement accounts, had recently returned from a trip to Florida. He was apparently targeted while retrieving or handling luggage near his vehicle. Investigators concluded that the killing occurred during a robbery.
Dr. Zacharev died at the scene on May 15, 2021. Evidence from the shooting was linked to the earlier attack on Barbara and Stanley Goodkin. The connection gave investigators a clearer picture of two armed suspects moving through the St. Louis area and attacking people within a compressed period of time.
The Murder of Danterrio Coats
By the early morning of May 17, 2021, Terry and Simpson had traveled to Memphis, Tennessee. At approximately 2:00 a.m., officers responded to the intersection of Scheibler Road and Priscilla Avenue in the Raleigh area of Memphis.
There they found Danterrio Cortez Coats, 34, unresponsive in the roadway. Coats had suffered fatal injuries and was pronounced dead. His death was investigated as a homicide and was later linked to Terry and Simpson's multi-state crime spree.
The Memphis killing occurred only about a day after the Missouri shootings and shortly before the pair returned to South Carolina. Coats was the fifth person killed during the spree and the third victim killed outside Terry's home state.
Victims
- Thomas Hardin, 35: Killed on May 2, 2021, on Lowry Row in York, York County, South Carolina. Hardin knew Terry and had reportedly been romantically involved with him.
- Eugene O'Brien Simpson, 33: Killed on May 2, 2021, in Chester County, South Carolina. He was Adrienne Simpson's estranged husband. He was reported missing, and his body was found in a ditch on May 20, 2021.
- Dr. Sergei Zacharev, 58: Shot and killed on May 15, 2021, near the Drury Inn and Bonefish Grill at 8700 Eager Road in Brentwood, St. Louis County, Missouri.
- Barbara Gayle Goodkin, 71: Fatally shot during an attack on May 15, 2021, while traveling with her husband on Delmar Boulevard near University City, St. Louis County, Missouri. Her husband survived the shooting.
- Danterrio Cortez Coats, 34: Killed on May 17, 2021. He was found in the roadway near Scheibler Road and Priscilla Avenue in Memphis, Tennessee.
Return to South Carolina
After the killing in Memphis, Terry and Simpson returned to South Carolina. On May 17, 2021, Chester County deputies attempted to stop their vehicle. The encounter developed into a high-speed chase during which Terry reportedly fired at pursuing officers.
The suspects eventually crashed. Simpson was captured, but Terry escaped into a wooded and rural area. He was armed and considered extremely dangerous. His disappearance triggered an intensive search involving local police, sheriff's deputies, state authorities, federal agents, tracking teams, aircraft and more than 300 law-enforcement personnel.
The Seven-Day Manhunt
For approximately one week, Terry remained hidden in Chester County. Residents were warned to lock their doors, secure vehicles and avoid approaching anyone suspicious. Schools and businesses adjusted their operations as officers searched roads, fields, forests and abandoned structures.
Authorities believed Terry survived by moving through wooded areas and possibly entering unoccupied buildings. Numerous sightings were reported, but many could not be confirmed. Police maintained a broad perimeter while tracking evidence that suggested Terry had not escaped the region.
On May 24, 2021, officers located Terry in Chester County. He was taken into custody without another fatal confrontation. His arrest ended the manhunt but began a complicated legal process involving murder and violent-crime charges in South Carolina, Missouri and Tennessee.
Confessions and Evidence
Investigators interviewed Terry and Simpson as detectives from multiple jurisdictions compared timelines, firearms evidence, vehicles, cellphone information and statements made by the suspects. The investigation connected the couple to five killings and several additional shootings.
Statements attributed to Terry and Simpson helped explain the sequence of events, including Hardin's killing, Eugene Simpson's disappearance and the couple's travel to Missouri and Tennessee. Ballistics evidence was especially important in connecting the two St. Louis County shootings.
The killings did not appear to arise from one consistent motive. Personal conflict and intimate relationships were factors in the South Carolina murders, while robbery appeared to be a central motive in the Missouri attacks. The reason Danterrio Coats was targeted was less publicly defined, although his death was included in the broader criminal case against the pair.
Guilty Pleas and Sentencing
On November 2, 2022, Terry and Simpson entered guilty pleas in South Carolina to the murders of Eugene Simpson and Thomas Hardin, along with numerous related charges. The plea arrangement removed the possibility of death sentences and ensured that both defendants would spend the remainder of their lives in prison.
Each received life imprisonment without the possibility of parole. Prosecutors indicated that the agreement was designed to resolve the cases across multiple states while avoiding years of separate capital trials and appeals.
Terry later pleaded guilty in Missouri to charges arising from the murders of Barbara Goodkin and Dr. Sergei Zacharev and the attack on Stanley Goodkin. The Missouri charges included murder, assault, robbery, armed criminal action and unlawful use of a weapon. He received an additional life sentence for the Missouri crimes.
Terry also admitted responsibility in connection with the killing of Danterrio Coats in Memphis. The combined guilty pleas established his legal responsibility for five deaths across South Carolina, Missouri and Tennessee.
Classification of the Crimes
Tyler Terry is frequently included in discussions of American serial killers because he killed five people in separate incidents and different locations. However, criminologists generally distinguish serial murder from spree murder by examining the amount of time between the killings.
Traditional serial killers usually experience a cooling-off period between murders and may return to ordinary life before killing again. Terry's murders occurred rapidly from May 2 through May 17, 2021, while he and Simpson traveled continuously, committed additional crimes and attempted to avoid law enforcement. For that reason, the description “spree killer” is generally more accurate.
Legacy of the Case
The Tyler Terry case stands out because of the speed with which the violence crossed state lines. Within roughly fifteen days, five people had been killed in three states. The victims included people personally connected to the offenders as well as strangers who were apparently encountered during robberies.
The case also demonstrated the importance of cooperation among separate police departments. Investigators in York and Chester counties, Memphis and the St. Louis metropolitan area were required to exchange evidence and reconstruct the couple's movements. What initially appeared to be unrelated local crimes became identifiable as parts of one continuous and escalating spree.
Terry's capture ended an immediate threat to the public, but it did not undo the damage inflicted on the victims' families and communities. Thomas Hardin, Eugene Simpson, Barbara Goodkin, Sergei Zacharev and Danterrio Coats each had lives and relationships that extended far beyond their roles in a criminal case. Their deaths remain the central tragedy behind the story of Tyler Terry and Adrienne Simpson.
