According to Johnson County Sheriff Mike Reece, the bodies of a man and woman were found in their residence at 128 James Davis Road, Mountain City yesterday, January 31st, 2012. Both victims, 37-year-old Billy Clay Payne, Jr. and 24-year-old Billie Jean Hayworth, had sustained gunshot wounds to the head. Payne also had knife wounds on his throat. Reece says the deaths are being treated as homicide.

The couple’s eight-month-old son was apparently in the house at the time of their deaths but was unharmed. He was taken by child protective services to the local hospital for examination. At press time the sheriff expects the child to be released to family members.

Hayworth’s body was found in the baby’s bedroom with Payne’s in an adjoining bedroom. According to Billy Payne, Sr., the male victim’s father who also lives at the residence, everything appeared fine when he left about 5:30 Tuesday morning to go to work in Boone, NC. More...