Ross Anderson
Cleveland Police Officer Kody Fox secures a portion of Hillview Drive, NW from any traffic as investigators work the scene of two people dead in their home Monday evening.
Cleveland Police investigate a double homicide. Hours before Cleveland police found Rachael Johnson and her 5-year-old son shot to death inside their home, the man suspected of killing them knocked on a stranger’s door 140 miles away in Murfreesboro and asked for a place to stay.
Rutherford County Sheriff’s deputies responded to the home at 4:22 a.m. Monday after Ross Anderson, 31, told the homeowner that his house seemed like a nice place to stay.
Deputies took Anderson to a local hospital for an evaluation – and then, nine hours later, officers in Cleveland discovered Johnson and her son dead inside their home on Hillview Drive NW.
Anderson and Johnson were living together, Cleveland police said, and neighbors said the pair was dating. Johnson, 30, and the boy had been dead for less than 24 hours when police discovered their bodies shortly after 1 p.m. Monday, public information officer Evie West said.
Anderson was charged with two counts of first-degree murder. He was booked in to Rutherford County Adult Detention Center and then transferred to Bradley County authorities, according to the Rutherford County Sheriff’s Office.