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Katelyn L. Harris

Age : 29

Gender : Female

Race : White

Date : 08/15/2021

Location : Jearoldstown Road near Interstate 81 Exit 44

City : Chuckey

County : Greene

State : Tennessee

Agency : Sullivan County Sheriff's Office

Officer(s) :Not Disclosed

Cause of Death : Gunshot

Event : Killed by police after multi-county vehicle pursuit

OPEN RECORDS SUMMARY :

On 08/15/2021, three Sullivan County Sheriff’s Office deputies shot and killed 29-year-old Katelyn Lee Harris after police pursued her from Kingsport into Greene County and her vehicle left the roadway on Jearoldstown Road. Harris was also known as Katelyn Lee McColl Honaker.
Shortly before 10 p.m., Sullivan County deputies saw Harris driving on John B. Dennis Highway in Kingsport. Deputies knew that warrants had been issued for her arrest and attempted to stop her vehicle. Harris continued driving away, and Sullivan County deputies initiated a pursuit that traveled onto Interstate 81 and continued approximately 30 miles into Greene County.
Harris left Interstate 81 at Exit 44 and drove north on Jearoldstown Road. A short time later, her vehicle went off the roadway. A male passenger then got out of Harris’s vehicle, and deputies took him into custody. Harris remained inside the vehicle.
According to the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation, deputies saw that Harris had a firearm and ordered her to drop it. Police alleged that Harris instead put the vehicle into reverse and accelerated toward the deputies. Three Sullivan County deputies opened fire, striking Harris. She died at the scene. The TBI’s initial public account did not allege that Harris fired the gun at deputies.
The critical account that Harris reversed toward the deputies came from law enforcement and was challenged by her family and friends. Within days of her death, relatives publicly questioned the sequence described by police and said they did not believe the official account. Harris’s boyfriend had been the passenger in the vehicle and survived the encounter.
The shooting occurred in Greene County even though the deputies involved were from Sullivan County. Third Judicial District Attorney General Dan Armstrong requested that the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation conduct an independent investigation. TBI agents processed the scene and investigated the pursuit and shooting, with the completed findings intended for prosecutorial review to determine whether the deputies’ gunfire was legally justified.
Publicly indexed records located for this update do not contain a subsequent detailed TBI report, body-camera release, dashboard-camera release, prosecutor decision letter, civil lawsuit or settlement that provides a substantially fuller reconstruction of the final encounter. The names of the three Sullivan County deputies who fired at Harris also do not appear to have been publicly released.
Harris had significant connections to Pennsylvania and had previously lived in Lancaster and Chester counties. She was the mother of four children. Family members described her as someone who loved art and music and was deeply attached to her children and extended family. After her death, relatives raised money to transport her remains from Tennessee back to Pennsylvania.
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OFFICER BACKGROUND:
The three Sullivan County Sheriff’s Office deputies who fired at Harris have not been publicly identified in the records located for this update.

SOURCE LINKS :

https://tbinewsroom.com/2021/08/16/tbi-agents-investigating-officer-involved-shooting-in-greene-county/
https://www.wvlt.tv/2021/08/16/tbi-investigating-green-county-officer-involved-shooting/
https://dailyvoice.com/pa/lancaster/news/pennsylvania-mother-of-4-wanted-on-felony-warrants-shot-dead-by-police-in-tennessee/814840/
https://www.wjhl.com/news/scso-suspect-shot-killed-after-leading-deputies-on-chase-from-kingsport-to-greene-county/
https://www.timesnews.net/news/local/scso-suspect-shot-killed-after-chase/article_96752c88-0766-11ec-92da-2f3b63cf184d.html
https://www.greenevillesun.com/news/local-news/scso-woman-shot-killed-after-chase/article_cad53498-947e-11ec-a115-cb25ed34a621.html