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BAXTER, TN (WSMV) - The victim found murdered in a Putnam County home has been identified as the great-niece of legendary performer Johnny Cash.
Courtney Cash was found stabbed to death and stuffed inside a large wooden box in her home on Rice Road on Wednesday morning. Courtney Cash is the granddaughter of Tommy Cash, Johnny Cash's brother.
The man who lived with her, identified as William Austin Johnson, was taken to Vanderbilt University Medical Center with multiple stab wounds. He remains in stable condition.
Johnson is the father of Courtney Cash's young daughter, said Putnam County Sheriff David Andrews, and was able to take the 20-month-old girl from the home and drive himself to a hospital in White County. Information Johnson provided at the hospital led authorities to a suspect in the case.
Tommy Cash issued a statement Thursday afternoon:
"We ask for your prayers for the Cash family at this time. Courtney and her boyfriend are beloved members of my family and like you we have a lot of questions and emotions that we are beginning to sort through today. We ask for you to respect our privacy and appreciate all the support that the public and media has always offered my family, as we handle the loss of my grand-daughter, pray for the father of my great-grand child and journey through the search for justice on this violent act. We are completely heartbroken. It is a time like this that we are grateful for our faith and trusting the loving guidance of God."
Wayne Gary Masciarella, 27, was taken into custody in Cookeville and charged with first-degree murder.
Detectives say they think the two victims invited Masciarella, a friend of theirs, over to the home late Tuesday night, where an altercation ensued and the stabbing took place.
