Sheriff seeks boyfriend of slain woman

WHITWELL, Tenn. -- Detectives want to question the boyfriend of a 27-year-old woman who was beaten and stabbed to death early Tuesday.

Deputies found the body of Brandi Dawn Duba on the bedroom floor of her Cheri Circle home after responding to a 911 call after midnight, said Marion County Detective Chad Johnson.

Her boyfriend, Michael J. Shirley, 29, is "a person of interest," Detective Johnson said.

Mr. Shirley is white, 6 feet, 2 inches tall and 265 pounds with black hair and brown eyes.

Ms. Duba had been dead about an hour when police arrived. Her 4- and 6-year-old children were asleep in the living room and told investigators they didn't know any details of their mother's death.

Ms. Duba was beaten with a baseball bat and stabbed, police said. Detectives said they recovered the bat but have not found a knife. Her body has been sent to the State Medical Examiner in Nashville for an autopsy.

"I would call it a very brutal crime, one of the worst I've seen," said Marion County Sheriff Ronnie "Bo" Burnett.

Deputies received a call around midnight about a wrecked and burning vehicle on Ketner Mill Road. They found Ms. Duba's Jeep Grand Cherokee about a mile from the home.

Minutes later, they were called to Cheri Circle near Whitwell, Detective Johnson said.

This is the third homicide this year in Marion County, Sheriff Burnett said.

Jareese Edwards was charged with criminal homicide in the September shooting death of Steven Orr in South Pittsburg.

Matt Baker was arrested in the early October in the death of John Thomas in Monteagle.