An incident of stark violence disturbed the Antioch community as a husband and wife were found dead in what Metro Nashville Police are describing as a murder-suicide at the Vintage Century Farmers Apartments on Tuesday night. In a revolving nightmare, Theodore Smith, age 37, shot his wife, Tatayana Smith, age 24, multiple times after an argument escalated outside their apartment unit, WKRN reports.
The couple, according to police, had no known history of domestic violence, and the turmoil leading to their deaths began when Theodore asked Tatayana to speak with him in the hallway. After a witness broke up the initial altercation, convincing Theodore to walk away momentarily, the situation took an irreversible turn. As per the statement given to police that evening by a witness, a struggle appears to have ensued; "Arguing was then heard. A witness was able to de-escalate the confrontation and convince Theodore Smith to briefly walk away. He then turned around, pushed the victim into a corner, unholstered a semi-automatic pistol, and shot his wife multiple times," WSMV detailed.
Officers were dispatched to the scene close to 8:55 p.m. following reports of an argument. Upon their arrival, they discovered both Theo and Tatayana Smith deceased. A witness having dressed to go to his job, described to police that the scene unfolded quickly after Theodore, a local hotel security guard, began to confront his wife, according to FOX 17's release.
Following the initial shooting, Theodore re-entered the apartment, retrieved another gun, and upon returning, shot Tatayana several more times. Concluding the tragic series of events, he then turned the gun on himself. "Metro police reported Theodore Smith then turned around, pushed his wife into a corner, took out a semi-automatic pistol and shot her multiple times. He walked back into the apartment, retrieved another pistol and shot the victim several more times before killing himself," WKRN narrated.
The investigation is ongoing, and no further details have been released at this time.
