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Rich charged, held in shooting; questioned in Warner death

By DAVID MELSON - dmelson@t-g.com
Posted 8/17/21

The suspect in the shooting of a Shelbyville woman last Friday – and who is being questioned in the death of a man found in Nashville the same day – was taken into custody Sunday.

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Rich charged, held in shooting; questioned in Warner death

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The suspect in the shooting of a Shelbyville woman last Friday – and who is being questioned in the death of a man found in Nashville the same day – was taken into custody Sunday night. 

Samuel Earl Rich, 25, of Shelbyville turned himself in to Bedford County Sheriff’s Office personnel and the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation in Murfreesboro around 7 p.m. said BCSO Detective Lt. Scott Jones. 

Rich is currently charged with attempted first degree murder and theft of property and is being held without bond at Bedford County Jail. 

The Mobile Patrol app was incorrectly reporting Monday that Rich had been released. Both Sheriff Austin Swing and the TBI confirmed to the Times-Gazette and posted on Facebook at midday Monday that Rich was still in Bedford County Jail with no changes in bond status. 

Rich is “wanted for questioning” in the shooting death of James William “Will” Warner, 22, of Shelbyville, Metro Nashville police said. Warner’s body was found Friday morning near a Metro water plant at the end of 35th Avenue North. 

Metro Nashville police said they believe Warner was shot after being brought to Nashville. They declined to release further details over the weekend or in a phone call Monday,  

No charges have been filed against Rich in the Warner death, Metro Police spokesperson Kristin Mumford said at the T-G’s press time Monday. 

A vehicle owned by one of the victims, which investigators say was stolen by Rich, was found Friday on Smith Chapel Road in the Raus area. A manhunt of the area which lasted late into the night proved fruitless. A helicopter and drone joined foot searchers in that area and into Moore County for several hours. 

The BCSO and TBI say Rich shot a woman in the head early Friday at a Temple Ford Road home. The woman, whose name has not been released by authorities but has been publicly named as Hannah Grace “Gracie” Perryman on social media by a relative, is being treated at Vanderbilt University Medical Center in Nashville. A social media post by that family member said she is improving. Investigators said she was Warner’s girlfriend. 

Charges were filed earlier Thursday against a woman identified by authorities as Rich’s former girlfriend. Falicia N. Fletcher, 21, of Unionville-Chapel Hill Road, over a situation allegedly involving Perryman. 

Fletcher logged onto Rich’s Snapchat account without his permission and discovered photos sent from Perryman, according to a Bedford County Sheriff’s Office report. After seeing the photos, Fletcher allegedly took screenshots and posted them to her own account, then allegedly began placing phone calls and sending harassing text messages to Perryman, according to the report. 

Perryman told Deputy Tylar Prosser she received 18 texts and nine attempted phone calls from Fletcher while she was at work.  

A deputy texted Fletcher and ordered her to stop sending messages, the report said. Three more texts from Fletcher were followed by another phone call, answered by Detective Sgt. John Sweeney, who ordered her again to stop calling. 

Fletcher was charged with unlawful exposure of an image and harassment. A summons was issued for a Wednesday court appearance.