GUILTY TN - Kayla Qualls, 26, beaten to death, Tullahoma, 26 Nov 2012

BREAKING NEWS: Woman's body found in Ford Explorer in Franklin County, TN.


http://www.newschannel5.com/story/20187763/womans-body-found-in-abandoned-car

From article above, it is now being investigated as a homicide

Tim Fuller said the cause of death appeared to be blunt force trauma to the head. According to the Herald Chronicle, the death is being investigated as a homicide, although officials said that the murder was not believed to have taken place where the body was found.

I had just now posted this in Megan Sharptons thread. I didn't see this, thank you for starting a thread!!

I just keep thinking, there are at least 3 others (not counting the Mrs ) that were involved in Megans death that are still out.

praying for the families, friends and our community.

Is there a link about Megan Sharpton? Do we know this is who it is? When I put the link up, there was no other info, so I didn't relate it to anyone. Horrible for anyone to have to die this way...

Officials said the body of 23-year-old Kayla D. Qualls, a Tullahoma woman, was found around 11 a.m. Monday morning inside a red 2000 Ford Explorer on Spring Creek Road.

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http://www.newschannel5.com/story/20187763/womans-body-found-in-abandoned-car

Qualls was the mother of 2 children.

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http://tullahomaradio.com/?p=9741

wfgodot said:

http://www.newschannel5.com/story/20187763/womans-body-found-in-abandoned-car

http://tullahomaradio.com/?p=9741

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What a sad deal! Sounds like LE was pretty sure who this was as soon as the vehicle was spotted. Thankfully, the hunters checked it out! RIP pretty young lady!

so thankful they checked the vehicle. Even Sheriff Fuller said usually people don't want to stop or get involved. They'd just pass on by.

So so sad.

ChristYTN said:

so thankful they checked the vehicle. Even Sheriff Fuller said usually people don't want to stop or get involved. They'd just pass on by.

So so sad.

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I don't think the sheriff meant passersby don't want to stop or get involved.

I think what he meant was that people probably saw her before this happened and/or know who did this and THEY often don't want to speak up or get involved.

This wasn't random, it was someone she knew and the police want to bring witnesses forth.

wfgodot said:

Officials said the body of 23-year-old Kayla D. Qualls, a Tullahoma woman, was found around 11 a.m. Monday morning inside a red 2000 Ford Explorer on Spring Creek Road.

http://www.newschannel5.com/story/20187763/womans-body-found-in-abandoned-car

.....<snipped>.......

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What is disturbing is in the link to the article, the Sheriff says this below:

"We feel certain that the homicide didn't happen where the vehicle was found," the Sheriff said.

It seems that would imply that the person who may have done this may have had an accomplice because him/her/they probably did not walk away from the location where the truck was found. If it is assumed they rode away from the area in another vehicle and it is assumed Kayla was murdered elsewhere, then that means at least 2 other people could be involved because it takes 1 to drive the truck and another to drive the get-away vehicle.

The only other way it could be just 1 person is if the 1 person had left their vehicle near where the truck was parked first with Kayla first, and then Kayla and perp left the area, and then the perp drove the truck back to the area. I suppose that is possible too, but it seems it would be less likely due to the danger of leaving the perps vehicle in that area to be seen by others.

I wonder what makes the Sheriff feel she was murdered elsewhere.

This is so sad and is very disturbing. I hope there is no connection to Megan's murder, but it is possible. That general area has had too many murders lately. It needs to stop.

Hatfield said:

This is so sad and is very disturbing. I hope there is no connection to Megan's murder, but it is possible. That general area has had too many murders lately. It needs to stop.

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I really don't think this was random and I would bet the police arrest the killer/s pretty quick. I bet she was killed at a "friends" house which is why they had to hastily dump the body using her car. Seems like the killer/s panicked and were more than a bit stupid.

They will probably start putting pressure on the people she knew and someone will talk. What is the old saying? Three people can keep a secret when 2 of them are dead?

It appears she was beaten to death.

Seems the authorities may not have a clue where she was before she died, and no one is mentioning when she was last seen. One news cast said she had not been reported missing.

Did someone else take care of her children? Most mothers that leave 2 small kids for a few hours, or even a whole weekend, tell people where they are going.

http://www.fox17.com/newsroom/top_s...nklin-county-murder-investigation-15004.shtml

The holiday season seems high for terrible murders.
She suffered if she was beaten.
R.I.P.

Sonya610 said:

It appears she was beaten to death.

Seems the authorities may not have a clue where she was before she died, and no one is mentioning when she was last seen. One news cast said she had not been reported missing.

Did someone else take care of her children? Most mothers that leave 2 small kids for a few hours, or even a whole weekend, tell people where they are going.

http://www.fox17.com/newsroom/top_s...nklin-county-murder-investigation-15004.shtml

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Just remember that LE knows a lot more than is released to the media. It sounds in this case that they are keeping a lot to themselves.

She had a lot of friends...they are grieving. I feel so so bad for everyone.
Her babies lost their mother, how do you explain that to little ones?

So horribly saddened for them all.

This area has too much bad news, we are all sick of this meanness. I hope it's not connected to Megans death...I'm really hoping the others tied to her case are seriously just sitting idle until they 'turn their testimony'....praying for that.

You guys, send good thoughts and prayers our way here in Franklin/Coffee counties.

Looks like they will wrap this one up quick.

The sheriff told NewsChannel 5 on Tuesday that he does not yet want to release the names of those two persons of interest, but says his detectives have questioned both of them. He says they are getting closer and closer to an arrest.

On Tuesday, detectives with the Franklin County Sheriff's office focused their attention on General Street in Coffee County. They say it's possible the two persons of interest they've developed might have ties there, or that someone might have seen Kayla during her last hours of life and might know some small detail that could lead investigators to her killer.

http://www.newschannel5.com/story/2...-interest-developed-in-franklin-county-murder

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Another article says the police think she was found not long after she died.

thanks Sonya610! I hope they waste no time getting the suspects!
I've had such a hard time understanding the why's in the latest murders. And our community is relatively small, why do these people think they can do things like this and not be found?

Horrible day here, actually has been horrible since July and Megans murder.

Sonya610 said:

Looks like they will wrap this one up quick.



Another article says the police think she was found not long after she died.

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Thanks. I hope so too, but I will not hold my breath until they arrest someone. We have waited so long in other TN cases for arrests, it just seems like they have trouble bringing people to justice. I wonder if they just are not trained properly in when they can arrest people for suspicion for murder. It seems they wait until they have a grand jury indigtment or wait until they have all the evidence to go to trial before they act, which seems strange.

Maybe they will do better in this case and arrest someone quickly. I hope so because it seems like this one should not be too difficult to figure out so long as they have someone willing to talk that saw something.

This is just my opinion and I definitely dont know how the law works, but this is what I think may be the issues with delays in arresting people in certain TN cases lately. Two examples is the Karen Swift case + Megan's case in how long it took them to arrest someone. In Karen's case, I still dont think anyone is arrested yet.

I wonder if LE is not using the tactical approach of "arresting someone for suspicoun of murder". This is different than "Charges being filed and charging someone".

I don't know how the law works, so someone please correct me if I am wrong please.

But isnt there a way that LE can arrest someone for suspicoun and further questioning, and hold them for a certain number of days without charges being filed. Then, if no charges are brought, they have to be released, but my understanding is they can arrest and hold a person for a certain number of days.

This approach is one way to possibly get more questioning of the suspect as well as the pressure maybe would force the person to give out more information. It also allows LE to acquire more evidience during these number of days, and other people then hear that a person is arrested, and they may come forward with more information too. If no charges are brought, then they have to release them, but they could always arrest them again in the future is my understanding so long as no charges were initially brought against them.

I may have this all wrong, but am just wondering if this is the type of thing that TN is not using to their advantage. Because we never seem to hear of them arresting someone unless they already have the case practically wrapped up.

My understanding is there is a big difference between arresting someone and holding them versus charging someone. I am wondering if TN LE in some places are not using the "arresting someone" approach and getting mixed up in thinking they have to have all their ducks in a row before they even arrest someone to hold them for further questioning or suspicoun of murder.

Again, I may be totally wrong about this, but am just wondering if this is a tool and tactic that certain TN LE places are not using to their advantage and maybe is why there seems to be huge delays in getting people brought to justice there. If I basically have this correct, I do think it would help get a lot more people to come forward with information in these types of cases. Even if the perp clams up and lawyers up, people on the outside would hear about the arrest and possibly come forward once they know they are arrested.

Any coments from others that know more about how this works would be appreciated. Thanks.

Hatfield, I'm not sure either really.
I do know at first in the Megan Sharpton case...we were all frustrated that he wasn't arrested sooner. They had the dna match soon after her death.
I heard the DA (i have my own opinions on him) was worried about the 'consensual sex' angle.
He also isn't known for successfully prosecuting criminal cases at all. I think everyone has went to a plea deal.

Believe me, we all have plans for election time for that office.

The Sheriff dept was even frustrated there was no arrest...they were ready to do it.

I'm hoping we find out today about these two 'persons of interest' in Kaylas case and they are quickly off the streets.

Hatfield said:

But isnt there a way that LE can arrest someone for suspicoun and further questioning, and hold them for a certain number of days without charges being filed.

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I am not a lawyer but no, they can't lock someone up in jail without filing charges.

I think they can HOLD them for a certain number of hours for questioning BUT at some point they have to charge or release.

That is another reason many say do NOT talk to the cops, if you admit to ANY TINY LITTLE thing they now have grounds to arrest and hold for as long as it takes to see if they can come up with a murder case.

(Edit -- not sure about the Patriot Act -- the rights have probably been trashed in the cases of "suspected terrorism" as they were holding people for ages with out charging).