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.
Police have not identified the boy or said what evidence led investigators to Anderson. Neighbors said Anderson was known as a "weirdo" in the area.
Once, about a year ago, Anderson knocked on neighbor Eric White's door at 3 a.m., White said. When White answered, Anderson hid behind a brick partition until White called his name and asked what he was doing there.
"He said, 'People have had stuff stolen and I think it's you,'" White remembered. "He said, 'I've got a telescope pointed at your house and I'm watching all the time.'"
Officers found the bodies of Johnson and her son after Johnson's employer asked police to check on her because she didn't show up for work Monday.
A man who answered the door at a home where some of Anderson's relatives live declined to speak with a reporter Tuesday.
Anderson worked as a firefighter in Cleveland for five years before he resigned in May 2014, Chief Ron Harrison said Tuesday. He could not say whether Anderson was in good standing when he left the department, but said he was not fired.
One woman who grew up with Anderson said she never thought he'd be capable of murder. Erica Hafley said she knew Anderson as a fun-loving kid, and she'd never known him to have a temper. She added that he was always pleasant when they'd run into each other around town as adults, and they'd reminisce about their younger days.
"There is no good in this situation," she said. "You always look for the good in the situation and there is no good in this one. Basically right now we just hope he gets the help he needs."
Neighbors were shocked to see police cars descending on their street Monday - a quiet subdivision with large lawns and well-kept houses. Gene Williams said he can't remember another homicide on the street in the 20 or so years he's lived in the neighborhood.
"It's real quiet around here," Williams said. "I can't see something like that happening. You gotta watch yourself."
Investigators taped off much of the neighborhood as they worked to process the scene on Monday, but by Tuesday morning the tape was gone and the quiet neighborhood was empty again.
A small, fire-engine red bicycle sat on Johnson's front porch.