Tennessee man shot to death by 'crazy' neighbor, days after pleading on Facebook for police to 'do something'

A Rocky Top, Tennessee man was shot to death by his neighbor last month, just days after making an impassioned plea on social media for local police to step in and "do something" before the suspect "does something he will regret."

 

What are the details?

Davey Roach, 43, was killed the morning of Nov. 23, after arguing with his neighbor, George Patterson. Patterson, 67, admitted to firing his gun, but told police he was aiming for the ground near Roach's feet, WVLT-TV reported.

Roach and Patterson had been in an ongoing property line dispute over a stretch of grass the two men took turns mowing, according to Roach's fiancé, Felicia Adkins. Adkins told The Knoxville News Sentinel that Patterson warned Roach roughly a year ago to stay off his property, "and it escalated from there."

"Every time that we were outside, it was an argument," Adkins told the outlet. "At first, it was just screaming and yelling, then it turned to threatening, 'I'm going to kill you.' He hated him, just calling him all kinds of names and threatening to kill me, threatening to kill his mom, threatening to kill all of us."

Adkins says she saw Patterson shoot Roach multiple times in the back. The victim was later pronounced death at the hospital.

Four days before the deadly confrontation, Roach, who shared a home with his mother, posted a video on Facebook where he claimed Patterson was spying on his family and antagonizing them. "The man's crazy," Roach can be heard saying in the clip, "and every time we try to get something done about it, the cops just slap him on the wrist and let him go and say, 'Well, you just gotta look over George, he's crazy.'"

In a caption accompanying the video, Roach called for the Rocky Top Police Department to "please [do] something before he has one of his episodes and does something he will regret."

Anything else?

George Patterson has been charged with one count of first-degree murder in connection with Roach's death. According to The Daily Mail, Roach is survived by a son and a daughter, "who are expected to graduate high school next year."