JEFFERSON CITY, TN — A Jefferson City, Tennessee, man intentionally plowed into randomly selected pedestrians with his car, killing a pregnant mom and the toddler she was pushing in a stroller and injuring another person in two separate incidents, police said Wednesday.
William David Phillips, 33, of Jefferson City, faces three counts of first-degree murder — two of them for the death of 30-year-old Sierra Wilson Cahoon and her 2-year-old son, Nolan, of Jefferson County. Her unborn child did not survive what police called “an intentional act of violence” around 3:30 p.m. Monday, accounting for the third first-degree murder count.
Phillips faces a fourth charge of attempted first-degree murder in a separate incident that occurred minutes earlier less than a mile away. Tillman Gunter, 61, of Jefferson City, was taken to a local hospital for treatment of non-life-threatening injuries, police said in a news release.
Phillips, who didn’t know the victims, told investigators a “voice told him that he needed to go kill the meth addicts, so he began driving very fast,” according to court documents reviewed by ABC News.
He targeted Cahoon and her son because “the voice told him that [Sierra Cahoon’s] baby stroller had meth in it,” according to the court documents.
Phillips’ car became stuck in an ornamental fish store, according to reports. He was taken into custody Monday evening and is due in court Thursday, the release said.
An employee in the store, Katie McCord, sustained minor cuts to her hand and leg, and was also taken to the hospital for treatment, police said.
McCord told NBC News that she felt water rush over her before seeing Phillips’ car inside the building.
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“Maybe it hasn’t really registered yet that that could’ve killed me,” McCord told NBC.
Cahoon is the wife of Matt Cahoon, an assistant athletic trainer at Jefferson City’s Carson-Newman University. He often accompanied his wife on walks, neighbor Kristen Johnson told news station WLVT.
“She obviously loved her little boy and her family,” Johnson said. “So I want to love my family like that because we’re not promised another day.”
Family friend Jocelyn Zemanek told the station that Sierra Cahoon “loved being physically active” and that “she was passionate for it.”
“She had so much love for Matt and so much love for Nolan,” Zemanek said. “She loved him more than anything in the world.”
A fund for the Cahoon family has been established by the university where Matt Cahoon worked.
“The Carson-Newman family mourns today over this tragic loss,” interim President Paul Percy said in a statement Tuesday. “We ask for prayers for Matt and his family now and in the days ahead.”
About 200 university students, faculty and staff attended a prayer vigil at the Ken Sparks Athletic Center on Tuesday.
“That’s one of the things that sets us apart in so many ways,” said Mike VanBruggen, the director of sports medicine at the university, told WLVT. “It is unfortunate under these circumstances, yes. But when the going gets tough, the tough get going. We got going.”