By WHITNEY HOLMES
6 News Anchor/Reporter

LOUDON COUNTY (WATE) --  A 21-year-old woman is dead after Loudon County deputies say her live-in boyfriend shot her in the stomach. 

The Loudon County Sheriff's Department found Savannah Cathy McMahan on Saturday morning in Lenoir City.

They say 25-year-old John K. Harvey is responsible for the shooting. 

Loudon County Sheriff Tim Guider says the call came from a roommate of the couple.

"The son of the person who the house has belongs to--they all three live together-- he contends that he was asleep and the suspect woke him up to tell him that Ms. McMahan had been shot," said Sheriff Guider.

When deputies arrived on the scene, Harvey was still home and McMahan was still alive.

"Upon our arrival we had found Ms. McMahan shot and in a considerably amount of pain. She was still alive but combative," explained Sheriff Guider.

McMahan was taken to Fort Sanders Loudon Medical Center, where she later died. 

Deputies say Harvey told them he and McMahan had been in an argument earlier Saturday and also admitted to having a 22-caliber revolver. 

Loudon County officials also say Harvey told them it was an accident, but the circumstances surrounding the shooting remain under investigation. 

Deputies say they have responded to Harvey's residence several times in the past, but only for minor incidents. McMahan's family tells investigators he had been violent with her before.

"Investigators had talked with her parents yesterday afternoon," shared the sheriff. "They indicated that there had been some issues there where she had called them on some occasions to say he had been violent around her or with her."

Harvey is being held in the Loudon County jail without bond. Officials have charged him with second degree murder and expect to press additional charges of drug and drug paraphalia possession Monday.

Officials also say they found multiple guns in the home.