A Tennessee man crashed his dad’s Prius a day after leaving prison, then officers went to notify his parents and found both stabbed to death

A single-vehicle crash in Jefferson County, Tennessee, led troopers to a home in Athens where two people were found dead, according to NewsChannel 9. The Tennessee Prius crash happened on November 8, and the report describes the investigation into the deaths as active and ongoing.

A state safety report on the Tennessee Prius crash identified the driver as Timothy Libbey, who was in a 2018 Toyota Prius registered to Willis Libbey. Troopers said the driver refused to give information about himself or the vehicle. Investigators later determined that the Prius had been taken without authorization, and its estimated value is between $14,000 and $16,000.

Troopers went to Willis Libbey’s home on County Road 654 in Athens to notify him of the crash. There they found Willis Libbey and Mary Libbey dead inside the home. Both appeared to have multiple stab wounds, the report says, and the driver is described as the son of the two people who were found dead.

The report does not say he has been charged in the deaths

The report does not say that the driver has been charged in connection with the deaths. However, the charges attributed to him as of the latest update are theft of property valued at more than $10,000, tied to the Prius, along with assault counts tied to incidents at a jail.

The driver had been released from state prison on November 7, one day before the Tennessee Prius crash, after serving a sentence for aggravated assault, according to the report. The report does not explain how the Prius came to be in his hands, beyond the finding that it was taken without authorization.

After the Tennessee Prius crash, at the McMinn County jail on November 9, he allegedly punched a corrections officer, according to arrest affidavits cited in the report. On November 10, in separate incidents, he allegedly kicked, charged at and spit on multiple officers, which led to charges of assault on a first responder and retaliation for past action.

Several details are missing from the report, including the cause of each death, any injuries from the crash and any statement from relatives or officials. As a result, what happened inside the home on County Road 654 is unclear, and the investigation may produce more information as it continues.

The report places the crash in Jefferson County and the discovery at a home in Athens, which sits in McMinn County, where the jail incidents later took place. However, the report does not describe the route the Prius took between those locations, the time of the crash or how much time passed before troopers reached the home.

The report notes that the driver was freed from prison one day before the crash, a short gap that also drew attention in Baltimore, where police said a man out of prison for a week fired toward a youth football field. In the Tennessee case, the report does not connect the release to the deaths.

The Tennessee Prius crash began as a routine response, as troopers traced the registration to a residence in Athens and went to tell the owner what had happened to his car. The visit instead led to the discovery of two people inside the home, which shifted the focus from a vehicle crash to a death investigation.

Charging decisions regarding the deaths may come after investigators finish interviews and review evidence from the home, the vehicle and the jail incidents, and more information could be released as officials update the report on the Tennessee Prius crash.