A Blind Spot in Tennessee’s Probation Department Supervision Leaves Domestic Violence Victims at Risk — ProPublica

On Oct. 7, 2019, a 30-year-old beautician named Temptress Peebles referred to as the Nashville probation workplace begging for assist. Days earlier, her ex-boyfriend Brandon Horton had come up behind her, choked her and kicked her within the face, in accordance with a courtroom doc. 

Information present that was simply the newest assault. She had been residing in a continuing state of concern, her household mentioned, since Horton had damaged down her door and pointed a gun at her three months earlier, courtroom data present. He had open warrants for his arrest, so she and her 8-year-old daughter, Khloe, have been avoiding the house, at all times taking completely different roads to get to work or to remain at her household’s home.

Peebles requested the probation supervisor if Horton might be arrested when he got here in for a courtroom date the following day. Horton’s probation file reveals the supervisor mentioned she would attempt to assist. 

However Horton by no means confirmed as much as courtroom, in accordance with his probation file, and Nashville police didn’t arrest him till it was too late.

Ten days after that decision, probation and police data present, Horton waited for Peebles exterior her house. Khloe advised WPLN she remembers seeing Horton pointing a gun at her mother. She remembers throwing her arms round his legs and pleading with him, “no, no, no.” She remembers making an attempt to name 911 whereas her mother, shot in each legs, lay on the street bleeding to loss of life. 

Horton is now awaiting trial on costs of killing Peebles. He and his lawyer declined to remark for this story. The case file is sealed and the general public defender’s workplace declined to remark additional on whether or not Horton has entered a plea.

All through the interval when Peebles reported he was threatening and hurting her, Horton was launched repeatedly into the group beneath the stipulation that probation officers can be actively supervising him. However in Tennessee, a state with one of many highest rates of women killed by men, WPLN and ProPublica discovered {that a} lethal blind spot within the probation supervision system emerges at a time when consultants say home violence victims are notably weak. 

When an offender beneath probation supervision violates the principles by being charged with a brand new crime or being discovered with a firearm, for instance, a warrant could also be issued for his or her arrest. When legislation enforcement serves that warrant, the offender can both find yourself behind bars or again out on probation whereas awaiting a courtroom date. 

However between the time a probation violation warrant is signed by a choose and when it’s served, probation officers cease conducting any in-person supervision: For a high-risk offender, this implies probation officers are now not holding three in-person conferences monthly; additionally they now not conduct a month-to-month unannounced dwelling go to to search for medication and weapons. That interval of suspended face-to-face checks can stretch for months — in a single occasion, for greater than 400 days. 

In Horton’s case, he remained free, armed and harmful for 3 months.

That pause of in-person supervision is spelled out within the Tennessee Division of Correction’s requirements of supervision. Between 2019 and 2022, WPLN and ProPublica discovered no less than six individuals, together with Peebles, have been shot to loss of life in the course of the hole in oversight. All have been younger Black moms, ages 20 to 31. One sufferer was a cheerleading coach and a mother of two. One other girl was shot whereas her 2-year-old daughter lay on the mattress close by. In a 3rd case, a mom of three was present in a creek days earlier than Christmas with a purple home violence bracelet round her wrist. Their deaths left 12 kids with out their moms. 

TDOC declined to make any probation officers out there for this story. In an emailed assertion, Sarah Gallagher, a division spokesperson, mentioned that “supervision stays lively” for offenders who’ve warrants however “the target modifications.” As a substitute of guaranteeing offenders are abiding by the principles of probation, she mentioned, officers assist to convey that particular person into custody by sharing related case data with legislation enforcement. Gallagher confirmed there is no such thing as a in-person supervision throughout that point. 

This blind spot is among the ways in which the state did not cease offenders from harming home violence victims. WPLN and ProPublica examined a whole bunch of deadly home violence shootings between 2007 and 2023 in Tennessee’s 5 most populous cities. The reporting, which expanded on our earlier investigations into Tennessee’s lax enforcement of gun prohibitions, discovered that amongst these deadly home violence shootings, no less than 86 individuals — about 1 in each 4 — have been allegedly killed by a suspect who was legally prohibited from having a firearm. Sixteen of these suspects have been additionally on probation. 

In a Second Modification-friendly state like Tennessee the place legal guidelines make it simple for extra individuals to hold firearms in additional locations, little can cease an individual intent on getting a gun, even when they’re legally barred from doing so. One backstop is the state’s probation officers, who’re in shut contact with violent, high-risk offenders and may search houses for prohibited weapons and not using a warrant if they’ve “affordable suspicion,” TDOC mentioned. 

In accordance with the division’s personal paperwork, a probation officer’s mission is to make sure public security. In circumstances the place there may be an open warrant, the division depends on legislation enforcement to prioritize the arrests of probation violators and on judges to incarcerate repeat violators as a substitute of releasing them again into supervision and the group. The outcome: Some offenders like Horton return to the road. 

“The system did her improper,” Peebles’ mother, Karen Peebles, mentioned. “If the police division had did their job, and the probation workplace had did theirs — I feel it may have been prevented.” 

“The Pink Flags”

Peebles’s family and friends referred to as her Chippie as a result of she had a excessive, singsongy voice, like a chipmunk. She was loud, humorous and at all times smiling. Virtually each night time, Peebles talked to her mother on the telephone, and she or he by no means missed a Sunday dinner.

Her household mentioned she began relationship Horton round 2018, giving in after he had pursued her for years. She was hesitant, partially due to his legal historical past. Horton had simply began 10 years of supervised probation after he pleaded responsible to facilitation of second-degree homicide in a theft the place a person was shot and killed. 

“Even when she noticed the purple flags, she would simply attempt something in her energy to attempt to make him higher,” her cousin Princess Pinkston mentioned. “She felt like she may save all people.”

The probation division categorized Horton as a high-risk violent probationer, which meant that each month his probation officer was required to see him face-to-face thrice, conduct a house go to and examine to ensure he hadn’t been arrested. This type of supervision is extra intensive and time-consuming than what low-risk offenders get.

In some probation departments throughout the nation, probation officers are assigned either high-, medium- or low-risk offenders. Specialists say this permits specialised groups to deal with intense monitoring of a smaller caseload of high-risk offenders, whereas lower-risk probationers are left to newer officers. 

“It’s just like the medical career,” mentioned Susan Rice, former president of the American Probation and Parole Affiliation. “When you’re a specialist physician and also you do solely the high-risk coronary heart surgical procedures, you’re not going to have as many purchasers as a basic practitioner who sees all people that is available in with a runny nostril.” 

However in Tennessee, officers deal with a mixture of high-, medium- and low-risk offenders. And Tennessee’s probation places of work shouldn’t have specialised home violence groups or coaching. A report from sufferer advocates greater than a decade in the past mentioned these modifications may save lives in probably the most harmful circumstances. “This report must be seen as a information for the place to start altering coverage,” the report reads, “and by doing so, in the end cut back the incidence of home violence homicides in Nashville-Davidson County.”

Rice mentioned it’s common follow nationwide to have blended caseloads in probation departments. In an e-mail, TDOC mentioned the identical, including that every one officers are “trained in areas like situational consciousness and de-escalation methods to determine warning indicators and handle battle.” 

Many of the 16 alleged suspects who WPLN and ProPublica discovered have been each prohibited from having a gun and beneath supervision by the probation division have been deemed excessive or reasonable dangers by TDOC. 

As well as, all 16 have been beneath supervision in Memphis or Nashville, the state’s busiest places of work. In these places of work, probation officers deal with a median of no less than 65 circumstances yearly, in accordance with TDOC knowledge. 

Horton was assigned to the Nashville workplace, ultimately coming beneath the supervision of probation officer Derrick Finch, who had been on the job slightly greater than a yr on the time. Finch advised WPLN that at one level he had greater than 100 offenders in his caseload. Information present the division fired him in 2024 after seven years on the job for reporting that he carried out a house go to with an offender who was in custody at the moment. Finch mentioned he thought he had carried out the go to when he was getting into his case notes on the finish of the month. 

“I bought let go as a result of I couldn’t sustain with the caseload anymore,” Finch defined in an interview with WPLN.

By early January of 2019, Horton had been on probation for a couple of yr. His relationship with Peebles was fracturing and she or he was referring to him as her ex in courtroom data. She joined her family dinners much less incessantly, and when she did present up, her mother mentioned, one thing was at all times off. She would put on long-sleeved shirts, even in the midst of sweltering Tennessee summers. As soon as she arrived on crutches, claiming she had fallen down the steps. One other time she had a black eye, and advised her household {that a} door had swung again and hit her.

A number of research have proven that probably the most harmful time for a home violence sufferer is when they’re making an attempt to go away their abuser, usually turning to the courts and legislation enforcement for defense. 

However the case notes in Horton’s probation file appear to solely scratch the floor of what her household suspected was taking place behind closed doorways. The case notes present Finch ticking via a standardized evaluation of Horton’s progress, noting his physique language, conduct and subsequent steps. 

“Offender reported as directed.” 

“Offender was calm, alert and oriented.” 

“Offender in search of full-time employment right now.”

“Offender advises he’s in means of shifting in along with his mom.” 

“Will advise offender subsequent report date.” 

Finch mentioned the division needs officers to have a rapport with the offenders they’re supervising, “however who’s bought time for that? It’s very exhausting to do every little thing they need you to do, as a result of there’s a lot to do.” 

He mentioned when a “drawback little one” arose in his caseload, there was not a lot he may do about it. 

“If this man needs to alter, we will help him,” Finch mentioned of probationers. “But when he doesn’t — which sadly is the case with too a lot of them — what do you do?”

“A Slap on the Wrist” 

In a courtroom doc, Peebles alleged that on Jan. 12, 2019, Horton went on Fb Stay and mentioned he would kill her earlier than he noticed her with one other man. He referred to as her a number of instances, she wrote, then confirmed up at her home, blocking her automotive along with his. They began arguing. He punched her twice within the head. She ran to her automotive to flee and he chased her, she wrote. He tore the windshield wipers off of her automotive and used them to strike the glass as she cowered contained in the locked automobile. Horton fled when she referred to as police.

What adopted was a string of actions by probation officers, legislation enforcement and the courts that left Horton free and Peebles afraid.

The Metropolitan Nashville Police Division filed a home assault cost towards Horton. MNPD arrested Horton and searched his dwelling for weapons, in accordance with probation data. He paid a bond to get out of jail whereas awaiting his courtroom date. 

In accordance with TDOC coverage, Horton’s arrest on suspicion of home assault required Finch to file a report and request a warrant for a probation violation. 

That coverage says that warrants for violations posing “a right away and/or imminent risk to public security” must be requested “as quickly as attainable.” Finch submitted a violation warrant to his supervisor and requested a choose signal it on Jan. 22, 2019, in accordance with probation data. 

As soon as a choose signed it, the warrant was despatched to police, who arrested Horton two days later. However at a courtroom listening to, Peebles failed to look to testify on the assault cost and the case was dismissed. Her mother mentioned that Peebles didn’t present up as a result of she was afraid, and that Horton had threatened her if she pursued costs.

“The sufferer, extra incessantly than not, is the proof,” Christina Johnson, a home violence prosecutor with the Nashville district legal professional’s workplace, mentioned. “If the proof isn’t there, we now have no selection, we are able to’t go ahead.”

Because of this, the Nashville Workplace of Household Security has referred to as for the district legal professional’s workplace to rely extra on proof comparable to 911 calls, physique digicam footage or forensic exams as a substitute of simply sufferer testimony.

As soon as the assault cost towards Horton was dropped, the probation violation that was based mostly on these costs was dismissed. Horton remained locally beneath Finch’s supervision.

And it didn’t take lengthy earlier than the method began once more. 

On Jan. 28, 2019, Horton was arrested in close by Marshall County. Legislation enforcement officers reported discovering 4 luggage of a white substance believed to be cocaine on him, in addition to a stolen Glock 26 9 mm handgun. 

Being arrested on suspicion of possession of medication with the intent to promote is a probation violation, as is being a felon in possession of firearms. 

So, data present, Finch requested one other probation violation warrant to convey Horton in entrance of a choose. Horton was arrested and launched on bond the following day.

Regardless of Horton’s standing as a high-risk offender, his a number of arrests in a month and his possession of a prohibited firearm, Decide Jennifer Smith returned Horton to probation supervision as a substitute of incarcerating him. In an announcement to WPLN, Smith mentioned she can’t touch upon earlier selections.

In no less than two different home violence gun murder circumstances in 2021 a probationer was caught with a gun previous to the taking pictures — although they have been prohibited from having a firearm due to a previous conviction and since they have been on probation. As with Horton, judges didn’t revoke their probation for being discovered with a gun. 

“There are people who find themselves telling us time and again with their actions that they don’t have any want to alter,” mentioned Becky Bullard, deputy director of packages at Nashville’s Workplace of Household Security, about abusers on probation who proceed to perpetuate hurt. “And when somebody is waving that flag to us to say, ‘Hey, I’m out right here practising all of those high-risk behaviors with somebody I’m speculated to care about,’ that’s somebody elevating their hand and telling us that they’re about to homicide.” 

Shari Bryant was a Nashville probation officer from 2020 to 2025, and she or he mentioned she left the job to turn into an accountant. She mentioned it was frequent for somebody to repeatedly violate probation with few penalties. Even in these high-risk, violent circumstances. 

In one of many case information TDOC offered in response to WPLN and ProPublica’s document requests, a Memphis offender named Torian Williams was sentenced to probation for aggravated assault and reckless endangerment with a lethal weapon. He was categorized as a medium danger and charged whereas on probation for having two weapons. He would go on to shoot and kill his 20-year-old girlfriend Demya Gordon in 2021. For that crime, he took a plea deal for a lesser cost of voluntary manslaughter and was launched to probation once more. Throughout that probation interval, the probation division bought a name from an ex-girlfriend and Williams’ mom saying that he was bodily abusing them and threatening their lives. Williams died in 2025. 

“Clearly, they’re not studying their classes, proper? They simply preserve getting a slap on the wrist,” Bryant mentioned. “They preserve getting out and getting away with it.” 

That revolving door allowed Horton to stay on probation and return to the road once more. 

“He Is Going to Kill Me”

Months earlier than she was killed, Peebles was within the bed room of her house when she heard a loud increase on the again door. It was a stormy summer season night time, July 13, 2019. 

“I bought up walked to the door seen Brandon with a gun,” she wrote in a courtroom doc. He pointed the gun at her, and she or he ran out of her house. A neighbor later advised the courtroom that she was woke up by gunshots that went via her roof, her partitions and her mirror. The neighbor, peeking via the blinds, noticed Horton working with a gun in his hand. A number of moments later, she noticed Peebles climbing down a tree.

When police arrived, they may not discover Horton. Metro Nashville Police Division charged him with felon in possession of a weapon, aggravated assault and aggravated housebreaking. And, for the third time in lower than a yr, Finch requested a probation violation warrant for Horton’s arrest.

Then, as is spelled out in TDOC’s requirements of supervision, Finch stopped supervising Horton in particular person till police may arrest him. Up to now, police served the warrant in a matter of days. This time, it might take three months for the police to meet up with Horton. For these three months, all that was required of Finch was a once-a-month examine for arrests within the pc system. Police wouldn’t arrest Horton till after he allegedly killed Peebles. He has been behind bars ever since. 

Probation consultants mentioned this follow of stopping in-person probation supervision as soon as a violation warrant has been issued will not be unusual. 

“It’s form of a messed-up course of,” mentioned Rice of the American Probation and Parole Affiliation. “Do we actually need that interval of supervision to cease in the event that they’re not incarcerated throughout that point?” 

Within the six circumstances of home violence murder that occurred throughout this supervision hole, WPLN and ProPublica discovered the time between when a warrant was issued and when police made an arrest stretched from as few as 9 days to as many as 425 days. In all six circumstances, the alleged offender was placed on probation for a gun-related offense. 

In some states, probation officers are in a position to serve violation warrants and arrest probationers themselves. However in Tennessee, officers should contact legislation enforcement. TDOC mentioned whereas probation officers can’t make arrests themselves, they work with native, state and federal legislation enforcement, sharing data comparable to “addresses, pictures, identified associates, and different leads” to help in finding the offender.

When requested why it took so lengthy to serve warrants in circumstances like Horton’s, the Metro Nashville Police Division mentioned that “wished individuals incessantly change the place they keep or depart city and they’re usually troublesome to find.” MNPD mentioned it really works intently with probation officers to serve offenders in the event that they proceed to return in for workplace visits or once they present up for his or her courtroom dates. 

MNPD mentioned it has one documented try and serve Horton’s violation warrant between the time it was issued in July and Oct. 17, when Peebles was killed. That try was on Oct. 9. Police mentioned nobody answered the door at Horton’s handle.

“Detectives spend their days researching individuals with excellent warrants to allow them to arrest them,” mentioned Debra Fessenden, chief coverage adviser with the Shelby County Sheriff’s Workplace, an company that handles warrants for Memphis. “Nobody is ignoring the warrants.” 

She mentioned that not all intelligence results in a well timed arrest. 

“It’s common — due to sources, coaching and protocol — that legislation enforcement decides, ‘We’ll simply serve this after we pull somebody over’” for a site visitors cease, mentioned Julia Weber, a California-based skilled who trains legislation enforcement and probation departments on harmful home violence circumstances. 

“What I inform communities is we now have to acknowledge how harmful a call that’s.” 

In her remaining days, data present that Peebles was more and more conscious of how a lot hazard she was in.

She had already referred to as the probation division as soon as for assist getting Horton’s warrant served at his Marshall County courtroom date. Days later, on Oct. 11, she referred to as once more to say that Horton had failed to look in courtroom “as a result of he spoke to officer finch and was advised that he can be taken into custody at the moment on his warrant,” the probation file notes. The supervisor wrote that Peebles was upset and that Horton was threatening to harm her. 

In an interview with WPLN, Finch denied warning Horton.

“Every little thing that might have been executed was executed from our finish,” Finch mentioned. “As soon as that warrant is filed, there may be nothing else that we are able to do.” 

Six days after Peebles’ remaining name to the probation division, Horton allegedly shot and killed her exterior of her house whereas her daughter, Khloe, struggled to name for assist. Horton was arrested the following morning, and Smith, the choose who had allowed his launch, later revoked his probation. 

“Chippie must be right here along with her little one, along with her mother,” mentioned Pinkston, Peebles’ cousin. “She had advised you a lot instances, ‘No, he’s severe. He’s going to kill me.’ … Now it’s too late.”

Khloe is in highschool now. For a very long time after her mother died, Khloe mentioned, she heard the gunshots in her sleep. She lives in her mother’s childhood bed room to really feel nearer to her. 

She’s beginning to totally perceive the methods the system didn’t defend her mother from Horton. However the 14-year-old says she has lived every day since her mother’s loss of life combating a guilt she can’t shake. 

“I at all times felt like her loss of life was on me,” Khloe mentioned, remembering how she had forgotten her telephone within the kitchen that day, so that they returned to the house to get it. “If we might by no means went again to that home … perhaps she would have nonetheless been right here.”