Reporting Highlights
- Weapons in Harmful Arms: Roughly 1 in 4 home violence murder victims in Tennessee’s 5 greatest cities had been allegedly shot by somebody who was legally barred from having a gun.
- Beneath Supervision: Some victims had been allegedly killed by a suspect who was additionally underneath supervision by Tennessee probation officers.
- A Lethal Blind Spot: If a warrant is out for a probationer’s arrest, probation officers cease conducting in-person visits and residential searches. Six younger Black moms had been killed in that hole.
These highlights had been written by the reporters and editors who labored on this story.
On Oct. 7, 2019, a 30-year-old beautician named Temptress Peebles referred to as the Nashville probation workplace begging for assist. Days earlier, her ex-boyfriend Brandon Horton had come up behind her, choked her and kicked her within the face, based on a court docket doc.
Information present that was simply the latest assault. She had been dwelling in a relentless state of concern, her household mentioned, since Horton had damaged down her door and pointed a gun at her three months earlier, court docket information present. He had open warrants for his arrest, so she and her 8-year-old daughter, Khloe, had been avoiding the condo, at all times taking completely different roads to get to work or to remain at her household’s home.
Peebles requested the probation supervisor if Horton might be arrested when he got here in for a court docket date the following day. Horton’s probation file exhibits the supervisor mentioned she would attempt to assist.
However Horton by no means confirmed as much as court docket, based on his probation file, and Nashville police didn’t arrest him till it was too late.
Ten days after that decision, probation and police information present, Horton waited for Peebles outdoors her condo. Khloe advised WPLN she remembers seeing Horton pointing a gun at her mother. She remembers throwing her arms round his legs and pleading with him, “no, no, no.” She remembers attempting to name 911 whereas her mother, shot in each legs, lay on the street bleeding to dying.
Horton is now awaiting trial on fees of killing Peebles. He and his lawyer declined to remark for this story. The case file is sealed and the general public defender’s workplace declined to remark additional on whether or not Horton has entered a plea.
All through the interval when Peebles reported he was threatening and hurting her, Horton was launched repeatedly into the group underneath the stipulation that probation officers could be actively supervising him. However in Tennessee, a state with one of many highest charges of girls killed by males, WPLN and ProPublica discovered {that a} lethal blind spot within the probation supervision system emerges at a time when consultants say home violence victims are notably susceptible.
When an offender underneath probation supervision violates the foundations by being charged with a brand new crime or being discovered with a firearm, for instance, a warrant could also be issued for his or her arrest. When legislation enforcement serves that warrant, the offender can both find yourself behind bars or again out on probation whereas awaiting a court docket date.
However between the time a probation violation warrant is signed by a decide and when it’s served, probation officers cease conducting any in-person supervision: For a high-risk offender, this implies probation officers are not holding three in-person conferences per 30 days; in addition they not conduct a month-to-month unannounced residence go to to search for medicine and weapons. That interval of suspended face-to-face checks can stretch for months — in a single occasion, for greater than 400 days.
In Horton’s case, he remained free, armed and harmful for 3 months.
That pause of in-person supervision is spelled out within the Tennessee Division of Correction’s requirements of supervision. Between 2019 and 2022, WPLN and ProPublica discovered at the least six folks, together with Peebles, had been shot to dying throughout the hole in oversight. All had been younger Black moms, ages 20 to 31. One sufferer was a cheerleading coach and a mother of two. One other girl was shot whereas her 2-year-old daughter lay on the mattress close by. In a 3rd case, a mom of three was present in a creek days earlier than Christmas with a purple home violence bracelet round her wrist. Their deaths left 12 youngsters with out their moms.
TDOC declined to make any probation officers accessible for this story. In an emailed assertion, Sarah Gallagher, a division spokesperson, mentioned that “supervision stays energetic” for offenders who’ve warrants however “the target modifications.” As an alternative of making certain offenders are abiding by the foundations of probation, she mentioned, officers assist to carry that particular person into custody by sharing related case info with legislation enforcement. Gallagher confirmed there is no such thing as a in-person supervision throughout that point.
This blind spot is likely one of the ways in which the state did not cease offenders from harming home violence victims. WPLN and ProPublica examined lots of of deadly home violence shootings between 2007 and 2023 in Tennessee’s 5 most populous cities. The reporting, which expanded on our earlier investigations into Tennessee’s lax enforcement of gun prohibitions, discovered that amongst these deadly home violence shootings, at the least 86 folks — about 1 in each 4 — had been allegedly killed by a suspect who was legally prohibited from having a firearm. Sixteen of these suspects had been additionally on probation.
In a Second Modification-friendly state like Tennessee the place legal guidelines make it simple for extra folks to hold firearms in additional locations, little can cease an individual intent on getting a gun, even when they’re legally barred from doing so. One backstop is the state’s probation officers, who’re in shut contact with violent, high-risk offenders and may search houses for prohibited weapons with out a warrant if they’ve “affordable suspicion,” TDOC mentioned.
In line with the division’s personal paperwork, a probation officer’s mission is to make sure public security. In circumstances the place there may be an open warrant, the division depends on legislation enforcement to prioritize the arrests of probation violators and on judges to incarcerate repeat violators as a substitute of releasing them again into supervision and the group. The outcome: Some offenders like Horton return to the road.
“The system did her improper,” Peebles’ mother, Karen Peebles, mentioned. “If the police division had did their job, and the probation workplace had did theirs — I feel it may have been prevented.”
“The Crimson Flags”
Peebles’s family and friends referred to as her Chippie as a result of she had a excessive, singsongy voice, like a chipmunk. She was loud, humorous and at all times smiling. Nearly each night time, Peebles talked to her mother on the cellphone, and she or he by no means missed a Sunday dinner.
Her household mentioned she began relationship Horton round 2018, giving in after he had pursued her for years. She was hesitant, partly due to his prison historical past. Horton had simply began 10 years of supervised probation after he pleaded responsible to facilitation of second-degree homicide in a theft the place a person was shot and killed.
“Even when she noticed the pink flags, she would simply strive something in her energy to attempt to make him higher,” her cousin Princess Pinkston mentioned. “She felt like she may save everyone.”
The probation division categorized Horton as a high-risk violent probationer, which meant that each month his probation officer was required to see him face-to-face thrice, conduct a house go to and verify to ensure he hadn’t been arrested. This type of supervision is extra intensive and time-consuming than what low-risk offenders get.
In some probation departments throughout the nation, probation officers are assigned both high-, medium- or low-risk offenders. Consultants say this permits specialised groups to deal with intense monitoring of a smaller caseload of high-risk offenders, whereas lower-risk probationers are left to newer officers.
“It’s just like the medical career,” mentioned Susan Rice, former president of the American Probation and Parole Affiliation. “For those who’re a specialist physician and also you do solely the high-risk coronary heart surgical procedures, you’re not going to have as many purchasers as a basic practitioner who sees everyone that is available in with a runny nostril.”
However in Tennessee, officers deal with a mixture of high-, medium- and low-risk offenders. And Tennessee’s probation places of work wouldn’t have specialised home violence groups or coaching. A report from sufferer advocates greater than a decade in the past mentioned these modifications may save lives in essentially the most harmful circumstances. “This report must be seen as a information for the place to start altering coverage,” the report reads, “and by doing so, in the end cut back the prevalence of home violence homicides in Nashville-Davidson County.”
Rice mentioned it is not uncommon follow nationwide to have blended caseloads in probation departments. In an e-mail, TDOC mentioned the identical, including that every one officers are “skilled in areas like situational consciousness and de-escalation strategies to determine warning indicators and handle battle.”
A lot of the 16 alleged suspects who WPLN and ProPublica discovered had been each prohibited from having a gun and underneath supervision by the probation division had been deemed excessive or average dangers by TDOC.
As well as, all 16 had been underneath supervision in Memphis or Nashville, the state’s busiest places of work. In these places of work, probation officers deal with a mean of at the least 65 circumstances yearly, based on TDOC information.
Horton was assigned to the Nashville workplace, ultimately coming underneath the supervision of probation officer Derrick Finch, who had been on the job a bit of greater than a 12 months on the time. Finch advised WPLN that at one level he had greater than 100 offenders in his caseload. Information present the division fired him in 2024 after seven years on the job for reporting that he carried out a house go to with an offender who was in custody at the moment. Finch mentioned he thought he had carried out the go to when he was getting into his case notes on the finish of the month.
“I bought let go as a result of I couldn’t sustain with the caseload anymore,” Finch defined in an interview with WPLN.
By early January of 2019, Horton had been on probation for a few 12 months. His relationship with Peebles was fracturing and she or he was referring to him as her ex in court docket information. She joined her circle of relatives dinners much less ceaselessly, and when she did present up, her mother mentioned, one thing was at all times off. She would put on long-sleeved shirts, even in the course of sweltering Tennessee summers. As soon as she arrived on crutches, claiming she had fallen down the steps. One other time she had a black eye, and advised her household {that a} door had swung again and hit her.
If this man desires to alter, we will help him. But when he doesn’t — which sadly is the case with too a lot of them — what do you do?
Probation officer Derrick Finch
A number of research have proven that essentially the most harmful time for a home violence sufferer is when they’re attempting to depart their abuser, typically turning to the courts and legislation enforcement for defense.
However the case notes in Horton’s probation file appear to solely scratch the floor of what her household suspected was occurring behind closed doorways. The case notes present Finch ticking by means of a standardized evaluation of Horton’s progress, noting his physique language, habits and subsequent steps.
“Offender reported as directed.”
“Offender was calm, alert and oriented.”
“Offender searching for full-time employment presently.”
“Offender advises he’s in technique of transferring in along with his mom.”
“Will advise offender subsequent report date.”
Finch mentioned the division desires officers to have a rapport with the offenders they’re supervising, “however who’s bought time for that? It’s very arduous to do all the things they need you to do, as a result of there’s a lot to do.”
He mentioned when a “drawback youngster” arose in his caseload, there was not a lot he may do about it.
“If this man desires to alter, we will help him,” Finch mentioned of probationers. “But when he doesn’t — which sadly is the case with too a lot of them — what do you do?”
“A Slap on the Wrist”
In a court docket doc, Peebles alleged that on Jan. 12, 2019, Horton went on Fb Dwell and mentioned he would kill her earlier than he noticed her with one other man. He referred to as her a number of occasions, she wrote, then confirmed up at her home, blocking her automobile along with his. They began arguing. He punched her twice within the head. She ran to her automobile to flee and he chased her, she wrote. He tore the windshield wipers off of her automobile and used them to strike the glass as she cowered contained in the locked car. Horton fled when she referred to as police.
What adopted was a string of actions by probation officers, legislation enforcement and the courts that left Horton free and Peebles afraid.
The Metropolitan Nashville Police Division filed a home assault cost in opposition to Horton. MNPD arrested Horton and searched his residence for weapons, based on probation information. He paid a bond to get out of jail whereas awaiting his court docket date.
In line with TDOC coverage, Horton’s arrest on suspicion of home assault required Finch to file a report and request a warrant for a probation violation.
That coverage says that warrants for violations posing “a direct and/or imminent menace to public security” must be requested “as quickly as doable.” Finch submitted a violation warrant to his supervisor and requested a decide signal it on Jan. 22, 2019, based on probation information.
As soon as a decide signed it, the warrant was despatched to police, who arrested Horton two days later. However at a court docket listening to, Peebles failed to seem to testify on the assault cost and the case was dismissed. Her mother mentioned that Peebles didn’t present up as a result of she was afraid, and that Horton had threatened her if she pursued fees.
“The sufferer, extra ceaselessly than not, is the proof,” Christina Johnson, a home violence prosecutor with the Nashville district lawyer’s workplace, mentioned. “If the proof isn’t there, now we have no selection, we are able to’t go ahead.”
For that reason, the Nashville Workplace of Household Security has referred to as for the district lawyer’s workplace to rely extra on proof akin to 911 calls, physique digicam footage or forensic exams as a substitute of simply sufferer testimony.
As soon as the assault cost in opposition to Horton was dropped, the probation violation that was primarily based on these fees was dismissed. Horton remained locally underneath Finch’s supervision.
The sufferer, extra ceaselessly than not, is the proof. If the proof isn’t there, now we have no selection, we are able to’t go ahead.
Christina Johnson, a home violence prosecutor with the Nashville district lawyer’s workplace
And it didn’t take lengthy earlier than the method began over again.
On Jan. 28, 2019, Horton was arrested in close by Marshall County. Regulation enforcement officers reported discovering 4 luggage of a white substance believed to be cocaine on him, in addition to a stolen Glock 26 9 mm handgun.
Being arrested on suspicion of possession of medication with the intent to promote is a probation violation, as is being a felon in possession of firearms.
So, information present, Finch requested one other probation violation warrant to carry Horton in entrance of a decide. Horton was arrested and launched on bond the following day.
Regardless of Horton’s standing as a high-risk offender, his a number of arrests in a month and his possession of a prohibited firearm, Choose Jennifer Smith returned Horton to probation supervision as a substitute of incarcerating him. In a press release to WPLN, Smith mentioned she can’t touch upon earlier choices.
In at the least two different home violence gun murder circumstances in 2021 a probationer was caught with a gun previous to the taking pictures — although they had been prohibited from having a firearm due to a previous conviction and since they had been on probation. As with Horton, judges didn’t revoke their probation for being discovered with a gun.
“There are people who find themselves telling us over and over with their actions that they haven’t any need to alter,” mentioned Becky Bullard, deputy director of applications at Nashville’s Workplace of Household Security, about abusers on probation who proceed to perpetuate hurt. “And when somebody is waving that flag to us to say, ‘Hey, I’m out right here practising all of those high-risk behaviors with somebody I’m speculated to care about,’ that’s somebody elevating their hand and telling us that they’re about to homicide.”
Shari Bryant was a Nashville probation officer from 2020 to 2025, and she or he mentioned she left the job to change into an accountant. She mentioned it was widespread for somebody to constantly violate probation with few penalties. Even in these high-risk, violent circumstances.
In one of many case information TDOC supplied in response to WPLN and ProPublica’s file requests, a Memphis offender named Torian Williams was sentenced to probation for aggravated assault and reckless endangerment with a lethal weapon. He was categorized as a medium threat and charged whereas on probation for having two weapons. He would go on to shoot and kill his 20-year-old girlfriend Demya Gordon in 2021. For that crime, he took a plea deal for a lesser cost of voluntary manslaughter and was launched to probation once more. Throughout that probation interval, the probation division bought a name from an ex-girlfriend and Williams’ mom saying that he was bodily abusing them and threatening their lives. Williams died in 2025.
“Clearly, they’re not studying their classes, proper? They only preserve getting a slap on the wrist,” Bryant mentioned. “They preserve getting out and getting away with it.”
That revolving door allowed Horton to stay on probation and return to the road once more.
“He Is Going to Kill Me”
Months earlier than she was killed, Peebles was within the bed room of her condo when she heard a loud increase on the again door. It was a stormy summer time night time, July 13, 2019.
“I bought up walked to the door seen Brandon with a gun,” she wrote in a court docket doc. He pointed the gun at her, and she or he ran out of her condo. A neighbor later advised the court docket that she was woke up by gunshots that went by means of her roof, her partitions and her mirror. The neighbor, peeking by means of the blinds, noticed Horton operating with a gun in his hand. Just a few moments later, she noticed Peebles climbing down a tree.
When police arrived, they may not discover Horton. Metro Nashville Police Division charged him with felon in possession of a weapon, aggravated assault and aggravated housebreaking. And, for the third time in lower than a 12 months, Finch requested a probation violation warrant for Horton’s arrest.
Then, as is spelled out in TDOC’s requirements of supervision, Finch stopped supervising Horton in particular person till police may arrest him. Up to now, police served the warrant in a matter of days. This time, it will take three months for the police to meet up with Horton. For these three months, all that was required of Finch was a once-a-month verify for arrests within the pc system. Police wouldn’t arrest Horton till after he allegedly killed Peebles. He has been behind bars ever since.
Probation consultants mentioned this follow of stopping in-person probation supervision as soon as a violation warrant has been issued just isn’t unusual.
“It’s form of a messed-up course of,” mentioned Rice of the American Probation and Parole Affiliation. “Do we actually need that interval of supervision to cease in the event that they’re not incarcerated throughout that point?”
Within the six circumstances of home violence murder that occurred throughout this supervision hole, WPLN and ProPublica discovered the time between when a warrant was issued and when police made an arrest stretched from as few as 9 days to as many as 425 days. In all six circumstances, the alleged offender was placed on probation for a gun-related offense.
In some states, probation officers are capable of serve violation warrants and arrest probationers themselves. However in Tennessee, officers should contact legislation enforcement. TDOC mentioned whereas probation officers can’t make arrests themselves, they work with native, state and federal legislation enforcement, sharing info akin to “addresses, images, recognized associates, and different leads” to help in finding the offender.
When requested why it took so lengthy to serve warrants in circumstances like Horton’s, the Metro Nashville Police Division mentioned that “wished individuals ceaselessly change the place they keep or depart city and they’re typically tough to find.” MNPD mentioned it really works intently with probation officers to serve offenders in the event that they proceed to come back in for workplace visits or after they present up for his or her court docket dates.
MNPD mentioned it has one documented try and serve Horton’s violation warrant between the time it was issued in July and Oct. 17, when Peebles was killed. That try was on Oct. 9. Police mentioned nobody answered the door at Horton’s handle.
“Detectives spend their days researching folks with excellent warrants to allow them to arrest them,” mentioned Debra Fessenden, chief coverage adviser with the Shelby County Sheriff’s Workplace, an company that handles warrants for Memphis. “Nobody is ignoring the warrants.”
She mentioned that not all intelligence results in a well timed arrest.
“It’s commonplace — due to assets, coaching and protocol — that legislation enforcement decides, ‘We’ll simply serve this once we pull somebody over’” for a visitors cease, mentioned Julia Weber, a California-based professional who trains legislation enforcement and probation departments on harmful home violence circumstances.
“What I inform communities is now we have to acknowledge how harmful a choice that’s.”
In her last days, information present that Peebles was more and more conscious of how a lot hazard she was in.
She had already referred to as the probation division as soon as for assist getting Horton’s warrant served at his Marshall County court docket date. Days later, on Oct. 11, she referred to as once more to say that Horton had failed to seem in court docket “as a result of he spoke to officer finch and was advised that he could be taken into custody at the moment on his warrant,” the probation file notes. The supervisor wrote that Peebles was upset and that Horton was threatening to harm her.
In an interview with WPLN, Finch denied warning Horton.
“All the pieces that might have been completed was completed from our finish,” Finch mentioned. “As soon as that warrant is filed, there may be nothing else that we are able to do.”
Six days after Peebles’ last name to the probation division, Horton allegedly shot and killed her outdoors of her condo whereas her daughter, Khloe, struggled to name for assist. Horton was arrested the following morning, and Smith, the decide who had allowed his launch, later revoked his probation.
“Chippie must be right here along with her youngster, along with her mother,” mentioned Pinkston, Peebles’ cousin. “She had advised you a lot occasions, ‘No, he’s critical. He’s going to kill me.’ … Now it’s too late.”
Khloe is in highschool now. For a very long time after her mother died, Khloe mentioned, she heard the gunshots in her sleep. She lives in her mother’s childhood bed room to really feel nearer to her.
She’s beginning to totally perceive the methods the system didn’t shield her mother from Horton. However the 14-year-old says she has lived every day since her mother’s dying battling a guilt she can’t shake.
“I at all times felt like her dying was on me,” Khloe mentioned, remembering how she had forgotten her cellphone within the kitchen that day, in order that they returned to the condo to get it. “If we’d by no means went again to that home … possibly she would have nonetheless been right here.”
