On January 15, 2006, a church youth group from Florida was hiking in the Deep Creek area of the Great Smoky Mountains National Park and discovered the dead body of a female, later identified as the victim, eighteen-year-old Tamara Susan Seay, an enrolled member of the Eastern Band of the Cherokee Indians. Seay was clothed and lying on her back in a pool of blood with visible wounds to her face and head. An autopsy revealed two gun-shot wounds to the head as the cause of death. One gunshot wound was to the frontal area of the forehead, the other to the lower lip.
Two days earlier, around 9:30 p.m. on January 13, 2006, Seay was seen getting into a car with Roach and Slee. Seay was intoxicated and had passed out, so she had to be carried into the car. Earlier in the evening, Seay had been drinking with Roach and Squirrel at the home of Glen David Jumper (Big Dave) in Cherokee. Friends reported that Seay, Roach, and Squirrel went into a back room of the home, and they believed the three were engaging in sex. The friends described what they believed as bad screaming. Roach and Squirrel left the home shortly after coming out of the back room. When Seay came out, she was agitated and threatened to call her uncle to take care of Roach and Squirrel. Not wanting any trouble at his home, Big Dave call[ed] around trying to get in touch with Roach and Squirrel to ask them to return and pick up Seay and take her home. Eventually, Roach and Slee arrived at Big Dave's home and picked up Seay...
Upon stopping on the gravel road, Roach picked up Seay, who was still passed out in the backseat, and carried her into the woods. Roach then set Seay down in a small creek, and the cold water awakened her. Slee saw Seay stand up, then, when he was not looking, heard her scream. Slee turned back and saw Seay fall back to the ground. As Seay was trying to get up, Slee saw Roach fiddling with something in his waistband. He then saw Roach shoot Seay. Slee ran to his car, but turned around and observed Roach walking towards Seay and pointing the revolver at her as she was lying on her back. As he was getting into his car, Slee heard a second shot...
The district court sentenced Squirrel to seventy months' imprisonment;  Slee to fifty-seven months' imprisonment;  and Roach to two consecutive life terms.
