Report: Trying to protect granddaughter, country star's widower killed man, family says
HENDERSONVILLE, Tenn. -- The widower of country music singer Jean Shepard was trying to protect his teen granddaughter when he shot and killed the girl’s ex-boyfriend in his suburban Nashville home Saturday, family told the Tennessean. But Benny Birchfield, 79, was too late to save the girl, who later died, family said.
Police told the paper they responded to the home in Hendersonville around 3 a.m. Saturday and found the elderly man outside suffering from stab wounds. Inside, they found 21-year-old Travis Sanders dead from a gunshot wound. They also found 18-year-old found Icey Sloan-Hawkins, reportedly Birchfield’s granddaughter, suffering from stab wounds. She was transported to a hospital, where she was pronounced dead.
Police have not released a possible motive for the killings. But Sloan-Hawkins’ mother, Velvet Sloan, told the paper her daughter started dating Sanders earlier this year but broke up with him after a turbulent relationship. She said the girl was living with her grandfather after the death in September of his wife Jean Shepard, a famed member of the Grand Ole Opry.
Sloan said Sanders didn’t live at the home. On Saturday, she said Birchfield heard the former couple fighting in the basement. Sanders attacked Birchfield with a knife, and Birchfield shot Sanders, Sloan told the paper.
Birchfield was reportedly treated for his wounds and released from the hospital.
Hendersonville police have not confirmed the account, or whether any charges will be filed, Detective Sgt. Jim Vaughn told the paper.
Jean Shepard became a member of the Grand Ole Opry in 1955 and last appeared in 2015, when she became the only woman to reach 60 years of Opry membership, reports CBS Nashville affiliate WTVF. She died in September at the age of 82.
In 2011, she was inducted into the Country Music Hall of Fame.