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Johnson County sheriff says teen died from hypothermia

Published February 15th, 2008 | 0 Comments

The death of a Johnson County teen is no longer considered to be a homicide, following an investigation by pathologists and the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation.

Johnson County Sheriff Mike Reece said William David Hopkins, 19, died of hypothermia. Hopkins� body was found in a parking lot about three miles south of Mountain City at 10:55 a.m. Sunday. Reece said alcohol and drugs were found in Hopkins� blood stream.

Although Saturday night and Sunday morning were not extremely cold for February, there were unusually strong winds. The National Weather Service station at Tri-Cities Regional Airport reported winds of up to 24 mph with gusts of 32 mph. The weather could have been more extreme in Mountain City, which is 855 feet higher in elevation than Tri-Cities.

�I know the wind was really blowing hard,� Reece said.

Hopkins was found wearing only his underwear, Reece said. The sheriff said the alcohol and drugs may have caused Hopkins to feel he was getting too warm and caused him to shed his clothes, leaving him unprotected from the cold winds.

�He was found laying on his back, with his arms on his chest like he was trying to get warm,� Reece said.

The sheriff said it is standard procedure to initially treat all unusual deaths as a possible homicide and that is the way Hopkins� death was treated until the forensic results came back.

Although there were no gunshot or knife wounds on the body, the first investigators on the scene noticed several cuts and abrasions. That led to the suspicion Hopkins died after being assaulted.

Reece said the medical examination revealed most of the cuts and bruises were several days old at the time of Hopkins� death. There were some fresh cuts and abrasions, but those could have been caused by Hopkins falling and crawling.

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