Michael Tragen Hite was 23 when he was fatally shot in the early hours of January 30, 1998, at the Athens, Tennessee trailer he shared with Jeremy Stakley in McMinn County. He sustained a single gunshot wound to the head while asleep; an autopsy found the wound was fired from a few inches to a foot away and concluded the manner of death was homicide.

Two assailants, Chris Haire and John Newberry, were involved that morning, and another man, Mark Allen, was shot and wounded. It was undisputed that Haire fired the fatal shot with a .38 caliber revolver. Both Haire and Newberry tested positive for gunshot residue on their hands.

Chris Haire was arrested, charged, and later convicted of second-degree murder in Hite’s death and received a 25-year sentence; he was also convicted of facilitation of attempted second-degree murder for the nonfatal shooting of Mark Allen. Can anyone who knew Michael, Jeremy Stakley, or others connected to that night add details about what happened before the shooting?