WKRN, Nashville, Tennessee News, Weather, and Sports |18-year-old jailed in fatal Castalian Springs shooting

18-year-old jailed in fatal Castalian Springs shooting

CASTALIAN SPRINGS, Tenn. - An 18-year-old is in police custody Friday, accused in the murder of a member of a well-known Sumner County family.

Authorities were called to Dickey Lassiter's home on Hilton Lane in rural Castalian Springs at about 4:20 a.m. Friday after a roommate called 911 to report a home invasion and subsequent shooting.

Sumner County Sheriff Bob Barker said the suspect was armed with a shotgun and exchanged gunfire with Lassiter, who attempted to defend himself with a handgun.

The 61-year-old Lassiter suffered multiple gunshot wounds and died at the scene.

The suspect, Tyler Reed, 18, was located on the property and taken into custody.

"We were very fortunate that we had people in the area and right on top of it, there wasn't much room for the suspect to go.  He did briefly run off to a wooded area, but he was quickly apprehended," said Sheriff Barker.

For the last 11 years, Janie Ensley has worked as Lassiter's housekeeper.

"Cause I heard it on the news, they didn't say who it was, and I walked in and they said, ‘Hey, did you know that Dickey's dead?' and it just hit me right in the face and I said, ‘No, I didn't know.'  Like I said, I've been with him so long.  I've been with all the Lassiter's so long, working for them and cleaning," she said.

Lassiter is the brother of Gallatin High School football coach Robert Lassiter.

Their other brother, Rufus Lassiter, is a former principal in the Sumner County School District.

Reed was taken to the Sumner County Sheriff's Department for questioning.

Sheriff Barker said Reed is believed to be a student at Volunteer State Community College in Gallatin.