Casey Jeanette Daugherty was 32 when she was brought to Starr Regional Medical Center’s Athens campus on the morning of April 15, 2019, after suffering a gunshot wound. Deputies from the McMinn County Sheriff’s Office were called to the emergency room shortly after 7 a.m., and the initial report framed the incident as an accidental shooting, which prompted an investigation that began at the hospital rather than at a traditional crime scene.

Investigators were told Daugherty had been driven to the hospital by her fiancé, Kajan Witt, and Witt’s father, John A. Witt. Detectives interviewed Kajan Witt and obtained a search warrant for a business on County Road 609 where authorities believed the shooting occurred. An autopsy was performed the next day while detectives gathered evidence and tried to reconstruct events; early reports did not identify a shooter, describe the firearm, or give a detailed timeline.

Outside the inquiry, funeral information noted Daugherty’s ties to Athens and that she was a native of Summerville, South Carolina. No arrest, suspect announcement, charging decision, trial, or conviction connected to her death has been reported. Does anyone have information about the business on County Road 609 or the events before she was taken to the hospital?