Man, 96, dies after ‘suicidal and homicidal’ driver crashes into assisted living facility

KNOXVILLE, Tenn. (WVLT/Gray News) - A 96-year-old patient at a Tennessee assisted living facility died after a driver crashed into the building. According to court records, the suspect was “suicidal and homicidal.”

Scott Erland with the Knoxville Police Department says officers responded to Shannondale of Knoxville, an assisted living facility, around 5:15 a.m. Saturday. They found a patient, 96-year-old Walter D. Humphrey, had been hit by a minivan that crashed into the facility. He was pronounced dead at the scene, WVLT reports.

The driver, identified by police as 24-year-old Eleasah Williams, has been charged with vehicular homicide with recklessness.

Williams was “suicidal and homicidal” prior to the crash, according to court records. She allegedly “wanted to kill herself and other people” when she sped away from an apartment complex around 5:04 a.m. Minutes later, court records say authorities received a call that Williams’ van had crashed into the side of the assisted living facility and come to a stop inside.

Erland says preliminary information shows the van sped down Woodview Lane and across all four lanes of Middlebrook Pike, running over the curb before hitting the building. Williams suffered non-life-threatening injuries in the crash and was taken to the hospital.

Court records say Williams admitted to knowingly traveling at an unsafe and illegal speed in an attempted suicide. She allegedly took prescription medications and used a THC vape before the crash.

The police report states it will cost more than $1,000 to repair the assisted living facility.

The investigation into the incident is ongoing.