Shooter set house, car on fire after killing members of family

GREENHILL - A man shot and killed his wife, daughter and two other relatives Tuesday morning at a Greenhill residence before killing himself outside the estranged couple's Morgan County home, authorities said.

Kevin Garner's body was found just after 3:30 p.m., about 100 yards behind the smoldering remains of the house the couple previously shared on Old Somerville Road in Priceville.

Lauderdale County sheriff's investigators said Garner, 45, burned the house and his wife's car about 3 a.m. Tuesday after the slayings.

Authorities said an Alabama Bureau of Investigation agent found Garner's body in a patch of woods just south of the house. They added a 9 mm gun believed to have been used in the five deaths was found near Garner.

The bodies of Tammy Garner, 40, and the couple's 16-year-old daughter, Chelsie, were found inside their residence on Lauderdale 73 just before 8:30 a.m.

Also, Kevin Garner's sister, Karen Beaty, and her 11-year-old son were found inside the residence, which is near Heritage Chase subdivision.

Family friends said Tammy Garner and her daughter moved to the Greenhill house about a year ago when divorce proceedings were initiated in Morgan County.

Tammy and Kevin Garner are both from Lauderdale County and were married in 1987. They were scheduled to appear at a divorce hearing in Morgan County this morning.

Law enforcement agents say Garner leased a rental car and drove to his wife's residence late Monday or just after midnight Tuesday morning, entered the house and shot the four people.

Garner's sister and son had been staying at the residence since Sunday when they arrived from Lebany, Ill. Beaty was expected to testify on behalf of Tammy Garner at today's divorce hearing.

Tammy Garner accused her husband of mental and physical abuse, according to court documents. Garner, who grew up around the Grassy community and attended Lexington High School, was living in Priceville and working at Ineos Nova, a chemical plant in Decatur.

Tammy Morgan Garner grew up in Killen and was working at Belk in Florence's Regency Square Mall.

Chelsie Garner was a junior at Rogers High School in Greenhill, where she played softball, school officials said.

Authorities said Tammy Garner and her daughter were shot numerous times, while Karen Beaty and her son were shot once each.

Investigators described a horrific scene inside the residence. They added Tammy Garner was found in the living room, while the other victims were in bedrooms.

Alabama Department of Forensic Sciences agents worked more than three hours with sheriff's investigators and Alabama Bureau of Investigation agents to process the crime scene and collect evidence.

The bodies of the victims were transported to the Huntsville forensic lab for autopsies, according to Curtis Summerhill, a spokesman for the Alabama Department of Public Safety.

While investigators were searching for evidence, Tammy Garner's green Subaru Legacy was found burned in Priceville, investigators said. They added that the couple's house at 187 Old Somerville Road in Priceville was destroyed in a fire overnight. Priceville volunteer firefighters were called to the house at 2:59 a.m.

"There is no question this fire was intentionally set," Chief Deputy Mike Corley, of the Morgan County Sheriff's Office, told The Decatur Daily.

Before finding the vehicle, a massive manhunt involving numerous local, state and federal agencies was launched in an attempt to find Kevin Garner. Agents later learned Kevin Garner leased a 2009 Hyundai Sonata on Monday evening from Enterprise Rent-A-Car in Decatur. That vehicle, which was found just before 2:30 p.m., was parked between two houses on Lauderdale 73, about half a mile from the residence where the shooting occurred.

Lauderdale County sheriff's officials said evidence leads them to believe Garner drove from Priceville to Greenhill around midnight Monday, parked the rental car and walked to the house where his wife lived. He opened the door, shot the four victims and left in his wife's car.

Sheriff Ronnie Willis said there was no evidence of forced entry into the house. Investigators said they found what they believe is a door key to the house lying inside the residence.

Rogers High School and South Lawrence Middle School in Loretto, Tenn., were "locked down" as precautionary measures Tuesday morning. Rogers Principal Tim Tubbs said the lockdown was to prevent anyone from entering the school without an escort. Rogers houses the elementary and high schools.

"It's typical protocol, and what this means is that all exterior doors will be locked and teachers will escort any students to wherever they need to go in the building," Tubbs said.

Neighbors said the shooting shocked the usually peaceful community.

"This is just unbelievable. This is the first time anything like this has happened around here," said Reed Canerday, whose daughter owns the house where the shooting took place. "This has just shocked everyone. When they called and told me what had happened, I just couldn't believe it."

Willis said Tuesday's tragedy will have a long-lasting impact on the families and community.

"This is such a sad situation, something that will affect the lives of everyone involved forever," he said. "It's just such a waste that five people lost their lives today."

Tom Smith can be reached at 740-5757 or tom.smith@TimesDaily.com.