Payton McCarty, 26 of Knoxville, was taken into custody today after he was indicted by a Knox County Grand Jury last week for felony murder, vehicular homicide, aggravated assault and attempted kidnapping.

On June 16, 2022 at around 2:45 a.m., Knoxville Police Department officers responded to the 100 block of Atlantic Avenue, where a pregnant 27-year-old woman was found laying in the road with life-threatening injuries. The woman was transported to the UT Medical Center, where the victim’s unborn child died.

The investigation revealed that the victim and McCarty, the father of the unborn child, were involved in a domestic dispute of some kind when McCarty either struck or dragged the victim with his car and then fled the scene. At the time of the incident, the fetus had developed to the point that it was considered viable absent of exigent circumstances by medical professionals. The victim, meanwhile, remains hospitalized and is continuing to receive extensive treatment for the injuries she sustained in the assault.