On a September morning in 2025, two people were found shot to death outside a home on Freeman Drive in Rickman, Tennessee. The victims were identified as 25-year-old Isaiah Thomas Hawkins and his 43-year-old mother, Christina Denise Hawkins; authorities described their deaths as a double homicide. Isaiah was a white male and was remembered by family as a loving father who enjoyed cooking, playing video games, and watching football.

Investigators focused on 27-year-old Payton Wayne Nations. After a multi-county manhunt that included alerts to residents and a reverse 911 call, a fisherman at Center Hill Lake reported seeing a man matching Nations’ description attempting to submerge a vehicle at a boat ramp; the witness prevented the car from sinking completely. Tips led the Tennessee Highway Patrol and the Putnam County Sheriff’s Office to locate and arrest Nations in Putnam County without incident. He was booked into the Overton County Jail and charged with two counts of first-degree murder on a $40 million bond. The motive remains under investigation.

If anyone knew Isaiah or has information about what happened that morning, please share what you remember.