Once out, Terry Lee Releford was free to prey

This is the home in the 8900 block of Lovell Road near Soddy-Daisy where Terry Releford killed his pregnant wife May 19. Law enforcement tracked Releford to a Georgia motel the next morning and were negotiating with him when he shot himself fatally in the head.

Terry Releford

Terry Releford’s specialty was preying on the weak and the defenseless. At 18, he already was a convicted rapist. Graduation to killer would come later.

When Releford walked out of prison in 2012, having served most of his 17-year sentence for raping two women and nearly killing one of them, he was not on parole. Not subject to any oversight or follow-up.

He was placed on the sex offender registry for life, meaning he was required to notify authorities of his address.

But even though authorities knew he was living on Lovell Road outside Soddy-Daisy, that did nothing to protect the woman and two children who lived with him.