Grand Jury Indicts Suspect In Brutal Stabbing Death Of Nashville Nurse

NASHVILLE, TN — The suspect in the brutal stabbing death of 23-year-old Nashville nurse Tiffany Ferguson faces five charges after indictment by the Davidson County grand jury Tuesday.

The grand jury handed down true bills for first-degree felony murder, first-degree premeditated murder, especially aggravated burglary, and two counts of theft of property against Christopher McLawhorn, 24.

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Ferguson, a critical care nurse at St. Thomas, was discovered unconscious and stabbed multiple times in her apartment on Wedgewood Park early on the morning of February 28. She was taken to Vanderbilt University Medical Center and was pronounced dead shortly after her arrival there.

Surveillance footage from the Wedgewood Apartments showed a man checking apartment doors, presumably seeking one that's unlocked or easy to open, in the time before Ferguson's death.

McLawhorn had been identified as a person of interest in the case in part due to tips from the community, including from two other men who were also homeless who recognized him from the security footage. He was arrested 10 days after the murder downtown and initially charged with marijuana possession. During interrogation, he denied involvement in Ferguson's murder.

During a preliminary hearing, a Metro Police detective testified that McLawhorn read numerous news stories about the investigation, searched for tips on cleaning up a crime scene and looked at violent pornography on his phone.

Detective Chad Gish said after reading news stories about the police investigation of the murder of Ferguson, McLawhorn searched "Will rain wash away fingerprints?” and then checked the weather, then going on to search “Can your fingerprints be found by police if you have no criminal record?", "How do police find and use fingerprints to catch criminals?" and "just how incriminating is a fingerprint really."

McLawhorn then visited Pornhub, where he searched "murderotica suffocation," according to Gish.

Image via MNPD