Lenoir City Police make an arrest in Christmas Eve deadly shooting
LENOIR CITY, Tenn. (WVLT) --
According to police, dispatch got the call of a shooting at 8:20
a.m. Thursday. The victim, 27-year-old Cory Brown, was found dead
when police arrived on scene at Clinchview Drive. He was shot in the
face one time.
The suspect in this case is 47-year-old Ronald Gregory Grizzle. Lenoir City Police have not released a motive for the shooting.
Grizzle is charged with first degree murder after he confessed to police that he shot Brown.
Friend of victim receives phone calls the morning of the shooting
A friend of Brown, Josh Isham, says he received two missed calls from Brown on Thursday morning. He also had a frantic voicemail from Brown, saying he wasn't able to breathe.
Isham immediately knew something was wrong and rushed over to the home. By that time, police were already there, investigating it as a murder.
"He was a good guy though he would give you the shirt off his
back. Even though I don't know the details, whatever happened down
there, he didn't deserve it at all. He didn't deserve anything like
that," said Isham.
According to the Loudon County Sheriff's Office, deputies got the call of a shooting at 8:20 a.m. The victim, 27-year-old Cory Brown, was found dead when police arrived on scene at Clinchview Drive. He was shot in the face.
Authorities charged 47-year-old Ronald Gregory Grizzle with first degree murder. They said Grizzle confessed to the shooting.
Lenoir City Police have not released a motive.
Suspect's father describes the murder
"You hope that you're gonna wake up and it's gonna all be OK. It's not that simple," said Ronald, Greg Grizzle's father.
He never expected to spend Christmas Eve cleaning blood off of his driveway or needing to visit his son in jail. But then again, Grizzle said he never expected his son to pull the trigger, shooting Brown in the face.
"All that screaming was going on and then, bam, bam. And the screaming stopped. So I ran to the front door and this young man was coming up the hill here saying he couldn't breathe. And he fell down," Grizzle said, who called 9-1-1.
Grizzle said his son suffers from bipolar disorder and wasn't taking his medication. He told his son to start taking his pills before this all happened, Grizzle added.
Grizzle said his son had invited Brown to live in a trailer on their property for a few months, to help Brown get back on his feet.
"I'm so numb, I don't know what I'm feeling. All this taking place on Christmas Eve. I'm just blown away," Grizzle said.
Friend of victim receives phone calls the morning of the shooting
Brown's best friend, Josh Isham, said he received two missed calls from Brown Thursday morning, one with a frantic voicemail.
"I just heard him say that he couldn't breathe. And I heard yelling and then it was almost like... he had dropped his phone and it kept carrying... That's when I got in the car and was like, I need to come down here," Isham said.
By the time Isham got to the home, police were already on scene.
"He was a good guy. He would give you the shirt off his back. Even though I don't know the details, whatever happened down there, he didn't deserve it at all. He didn't deserve anything like that," Isham said.
Isham had planned to spend the day, Christmas Eve, with Brown playing video games.
Brown had a dog named Chevy, whom he adored. Isham said his plan is to find Chevy a safe place to stay.