KNOXVILLE (WATE) - A man is charged in his wife's fatal shooting early Monday in North Knox County.
Deputies responded to a 911 call and found Erica Kay Dabbs, 28, at 12:15 a.m. in her home on Summertime Lane in the Summer Hall subdivision. She was taken to UT Medical Center and pronounced dead.
According to the warrant, the suspect, John Michael Dabbs, 31, came to the home where he used to live with four other people to retrieve some of his belongings.
The warrant says the pair argued, then Erica Dabbs got a handgun and repeatedly told her husband to leave.
Instead, John Dabbs allegedly lunged at her and they began to struggle with the handgun, which went off. Erica Dabbs was shot in the abdomen.
John Dabbs is charged with second degree murder. He's being held on a $400,000 bond.
Other residents of the subdivision were surprised when they heard about the shooting. "Safety's been excellent over the last eight years. Typically, we only would have some minor vandalism," Bruce Katz said. He added that it's a small neighborhood and many people there know each other.
"I moved from the south side so there was stuff like that happening all the time, but I really thought it might be a little different up here," said another subdivision resident, Steven Fitzgibbon. "I guess it doesn't matter where you go as long as you don't know the people."
An autopsy is scheduled to determine Erica Dabbs' exact cause of death.
The shooting was on Summertime Lane.
John Michael Dabbs (source: Knox County Sheriff's Office)
