Tennessee girl, high school class president, shot to death coming home from basketball game

A 17-year-old Tennessee high school student was fatally shot on Feb. 10 while driving home from a basketball game with friends.

Christine Michael reportedly had a 4.0 GPA and was class president at Haywood High School in Brownsville — about an hour from Memphis, FOX 13 reported, citing Michael’s family members.

Haywood County officials have arrested and charged Kevion Davis, 18, and Bishop Owens, 16, with first-degree murder in connection with the incident. They are both being held without bond, and authorities are seeking three additional charges against each individual.

“The incident that took the life of Christine Michael Friday night will forever change the lives of a great many people,” Haywood Sheriff Billy Garrett Jr. said in a Feb. 12 Facebook post. “Our heartfelt condolences go out to the Michael family during this extremely difficult time, and we want to support and uplift them as they work through the pain that this tragedy has brought to their family.”

The girl was returning to Brownsville on Highway 19 from Ripley, where she had been watching a high school basketball game, in a vehicle with friends when “someone suddenly started shooting at them,” Garrett said in a Feb. 11 statement posted to Facebook. 

A 13-year-old girl in the same vehicle was also injured in the attack while the driver was unharmed.

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A Twitter account under the name “Kevion Davis” of Brownsville, Tennessee wrote on Dec. 3, 2022, “I swear it’s a blessing to have different colleges hitting me up everyday, even though my season ended in Week 4 by a torn ACL.”

Haywood High School students returned to classes on Monday and remembered their beloved classmate. Sheriff Garrett and Haywood County Schools Superintendent Amie Marsh, in a joint statement, described Michael as “a promising student who had tremendous plans for her future.”

Michael’s classmate, Synandiaha Welch, said the 17-year-old made her “start fighting for” better grades.

“She was smart. She had goals. She talked about how she wanted to be a model. She wanted to be a CNA. She wanted to have a good life,” Welch told FOX 13.

Authorities are asking anyone with any information about the incident to call 731-772-1215 or Crimestoppers at 731-424-8477.