Men Who Allegedly Gunned Down Nurse Driving To Work Indicted On Murder Charges
Devaunte Hill, 21, and James Cowan, 28 are due in court on June 3 related to the first-degree murder of Nashville nurse Caitlyn Kaufman. Caitlyn Kaufman Photo: Facebook
A grand jury has indicted two men suspected in last year’s deadly highway shooting of Tennessee nurse Caitlyn Kaufman.
Devaunte Hill, 21, and James Cowan, 28, who were previously arrested in Kaufman’s shooting death, were officially indicted in first-degree murder charges on Thursday, according to CBS Pittsburgh.
Kaufman was fatally shot on Dec. 3, 2020 in while en route to a shift at St. Thomas West hospital in southwest Nashville where she worked. She was found behind the wheel of her Mazda CX-5 on the shoulder of Interstate-440 West near Nashville shortly before 9 p.m.
WBBJ TV
January 22, 2021
It suggests 26-year-old Caitlyn Kaufman may have been a victim of road rage in December.
Two men have been charged with criminal homicide in her death. They are 21-year-old Devaunte Lewis Hill and 28-year-old James Edward Cowan.
Davidson County General Sessions Judge Melissa Blackburn found probable cause after a witness said Hill gave him the weapon used and told him that Hill had cut them off along the highway, prompting the gunfire.
A detective said Hill told police a similar story.
The case now goes to a grand jury.
Testimony: Road rage may have prompted fatal shooting
January 22, 2021 GMT
NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP) The fatal shooting of a Tennessee nurse along Interstate 440 may have been prompted by road rage, according to testimony at a court hearing.
It was the first time a possible motive has been offered in the killing of Caitlyn Kaufman, 26, who was shot on Dec. 3 as she drove to work at St. Thomas West Hospital in Nashville. Two men Devaunte Lewis Hill, 21, and James Edward Cowan, 28 have been charged with criminal homicide in her death.
A detective and a witness, who wasn’t identified, testified during their probable cause hearing on Thursday that Hill said the woman had cut them off while driving along the interstate, news outlets reported. That prompted the gunfire, according to testimony from Detective Chris Dickerson and the witness, whose identity is being protected by the court due to threats of physical danger.
Suspect in deadly shooting of nurse facing federal charges
MNPD
James Edward Cowan named as suspect in Caitlyn Kaufman murder. br Photo provided by Metro Nashville Police Department
Posted at 9:19 PM, Jan 19, 2021
and last updated 2021-01-19 22:20:37-05
NASHVILLE, Tenn. (WTVF) â The suspect in the deadly shooting of Nashville nurse Caitlyn Kaufman is now facing federal drug and gun charges.
U.S. Attorney Don Cochran announced the charges Tuesday against 28-year-old James Edward Cowan, who was also known as James Lillard.
Cowan was charged with being a convicted felon in possession of a firearm, possessing a firearm in furtherance of a drug trafficking crime, and possession with intent to distribute a controlled substance.
Tennessee police this week arrested a second suspect in the shooting death of a nurse who was shot to death last month while driving along Interstate 440 on her way to work, WKRN reports.
James Edward Cowan, 28, was arrested Tuesday night as he arrived at the Hickory Hollow Place apartment after they followed him from a motel where he’d been staying for several days.
As CrimeOnline previously reported, a Nashville Parks police officer saw Caitlyn Kaufman’s car against a guard rail off the highway on the west end of the city shortly before 9 p.m. on December 3. He stopped to assist, thinking it was a single-car accident, but instead found Kaufman with at least one gunshot wound.