Ricky McKee, identified in later federal court records as Ricky King, died on November 24, 2019, in the Smoke Rise community of Blount County, Alabama, after deputies found him and his estranged wife, Delilah Susie McKee, dead from gunshot wounds in a home on Long Leaf Trail. Court records describe a pattern of escalating domestic violence in the weeks before the killings: Delilah reported abuse, sought protection, and had warned authorities that the danger was growing. Days earlier Ricky was arrested for allegedly breaking into Delilah’s home while armed, assaulting her, and violating a court order; a judge ordered him held without bond for a hearing set for November 26, 2019.

Records say he was nevertheless released on a $2,500 bond, prompting immediate fears from Delilah’s family and warnings to deputies. According to the court opinion and contemporaneous reporting, the next day Ricky forced his way back into the house, chased Delilah down a hallway, shot and killed her, and then killed himself. The only arrest tied to the sequence was Ricky’s domestic-violence arrest; the remainder of the aftermath became civil litigation by Delilah’s estate against county law enforcement over how her reports and the release were handled.

Did anyone in Smoke Rise see or hear anything that could shed more light on Delilah’s final hours?