Tivvis B. Garrison, 47, was found dead in her Brentwood-area home on Cobble Drive in Nashville in early February 2018 after a relative checked on her on February 3. Police described a bloody scene in her bedroom; her Cadillac was missing from the driveway. Investigators determined she had been shot five times, four of the wounds to the head, and noted pieces of sweet potato on the bed.

Her nephew Joshua Gaines, 29, who had been living with her, was identified as a person of interest. Officers later stopped the missing Cadillac after midnight and found Gaines driving with a loaded handgun and Garrison’s cell phone. Detectives said he was evasive during questioning. Prosecutors later presented evidence that four sweet potatoes had been used as makeshift silencers for a .38 revolver used in the killing, a detail that led to the case being called the sweet potato murder.

Anyone who knew Tivvis Garrison or has information about her death is asked to come forward.