On the morning of March 8, 2020, three women from Knoxville were shot to death in a sequence of events that began on Division Street and Liberty Street around 4:38 a.m. Officers found a woman lying in the road who had been shot multiple times; she was later identified as 29-year-old Juliana White. That discovery led investigators to a home on Trousdale Road, where two more women were found fatally shot: 55-year-old Mildred Millie Blackwell and 57-year-old Barbara Rogers.

Police determined the victims and the suspect were known to each other. The suspect, 24-year-old Desmon Rhea, was arrested later the same day at a Burbury Lane residence. Investigators reported Rhea had been living in the Trousdale Road basement with White, his girlfriend, while Blackwell and Rogers lived upstairs. The account states Rhea, reportedly under the influence of meth, shot White while they were driving in her rental car, left her body in the street, then returned to the house and shot Blackwell while she slept and shot Rogers after she was awakened and attempted to call 911.

A jury later found Desmon Rhea guilty of the murders of Blackwell, Rogers, and White; for the murders of Blackwell and Rogers he received life without parole. Does anyone have information about Mildred Blackwell’s life in Knoxville or knew her personally that could help build a fuller picture of who she was?