A roadside dispute on the evening of October 15, 2025, ended in fatal gunfire on Vickers Ridge Road in the Austin Bottom area of DeKalb County. Deputies arrived shortly after 7:30 p.m. and found two people dead: 68-year-old Baxter resident Karen Carter and her 29-year-old son Ceil Martindale. A third person was wounded and airlifted to a hospital.

Investigators say a dispute among three individuals escalated into gunfire. Multiple agencies — the DeKalb County Sheriff’s Department, the Putnam County Sheriff’s Department, the District Attorney General’s Office and the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation — are processing evidence and conducting interviews. No arrests have been announced and no suspects have been publicly identified.

Anyone with information about the events on Vickers Ridge Road the evening of October 15 who can help investigators is asked to come forward.