Rocky Top man charged in death of neighbor

November 27, 2019 by G. Chambers Williams III

A Rocky Top man who had been in a long-running feud with his neighbor was shot and killed Saturday morning outside his home, and the neighbor is now charged with criminal homicide in connection with his death.

The victim, 43-year-old David Ray “Davey” Roach Jr., was found by Rocky Top police officers lying wounded near his home at 325 Willow Lane, after police received a report of a shooting shortly before 8 a.m., according to the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation.

On Saturday afternoon, the neighbor, George Michael Patterson, 64, of 329 Willow Lane, was taken into custody and subsequently charged with criminal homicide. He was being held in the Anderson County Jail in lieu of $250,000 bail.

In a news release, the TBI said: “The investigation revealed that George M. Patterson (DOB 06/21/55), the victim’s neighbor, was the individual responsible for [Roach’s] death.”

According to news reports and Facebook posts, the two men had been feuding for some time, and on Friday evening, Roach had posted a video showing a video security camera on Patterson’s property pointed at Roach’s home. He and his fiancée, identified as Felicia Nadine Adkins, 37, indicated they had made reports to the Rocky Top police about what they considered threatening behavior by Patterson, who they said always carried a gun.

In a Nov. 19 Facebook post, Roach said, “RTPD please so something before he has one of his episodes and does something he will regret,” in reference to Patterson.

Adkins was with Roach when he was shot, according to several sources. According to their Facebook posts, they had been together three years and were planning to get married next year. Roach had a teenage son and daughter. Roach’s mother, Helen Seiber Lane, runs a beauty shop also on Willow Lane in Rocky Top, according to Facebook posts.