American deputy indicted for school resource officer wife’s 2022 murder is also accused of ‘continuous’ child rape in Tennessee

By Edward Era Barbacena 

A jailed former sheriff’s deputy was indicted Thursday for child rape and murder more than a year after his deputy wife, a mother of three, was shot to death at their Tennessee home.

Authorities said that Tommy Duncan, 33, was served the indictments while still in the custody of the Campbell County Jail following his April 2023 arrest on charges that he raped a female victim multiple times. The Tennessee Bureau of Investigation (TBI) announced those charges while investigating the Jan. 31, 2022 shooting of Scott County deputy and school resource officer April Duncan, Tommy Duncan’s wife.

After the 911 call came in reporting a shooting at the Duncans’ Oneida home, April Duncan’s death was reportedly investigated as a suicide, but state authorities’ multi-month probe has concluded that the 34-year-old was murdered by her husband.

“In January 2022, at the request of 8th Judicial District Attorney General Jared Effler, TBI agents began investigating the death of Scott County Deputy April Duncan,” TBI said in a brief statement. “On January 31, 2022, deputies with the Scott County Sheriff’s Office responded to a report of a shooting at a residence in the 600 block of Locust Lane in Oneida. Upon arrival, April Duncan was located deceased inside the home.”

Authorities said that the investigation into Duncan’s shooting death eventually expanded to include investigation of allegations that a minor child was sexually abused. Now a grand jury in Scott County has indicted Tommy Duncan for second-degree murder, five counts of rape, and “continuous sexual abuse of a child.” The TBI noted that Tommy Duncan was employed by the same sheriff’s office as his wife, but the agency did not initially specify what the position was. Law&Crime reached out to TBI for clarification as to Tommy Duncan’s law enforcement role and the agency confirmed he was employed as a deputy.

The defendant remains behind bars Friday on a $1 million bond, state cops said.

Scott County Sheriff Brian Keeton released a statement after news of Duncan’s indictment broke. The sheriff said he spent his “first hours” in office on Sept. 1, 2022 making the decision to “terminate” Tommy Duncan, noting the former deputy “had been previously placed on administrative leave by the previous Sheriff’s administration due to the nature and circumstances of the investigation.”

“In my first hours as Scott County Sheriff I evaluated the information I had and determined that my decision not to rehire and terminate Tommy Duncan was appropriate and he did not have a place or position in my new administration. I believe he had lost that opportunity to work for me, in our new direction, and the citizens of Scott County. This is the only comment I will have on this matter,” the sheriff said. “We will look forward responsibly, continue to work with and support the efforts of the TBI and the Office of District Attorney General Jared Effler. We are confident and prayerful that justice for Deputy April Duncan and the other victims in this matter has been, is and will be paramount in the adjudication of this criminal proceeding. Together, we will never cease from being advocates for justice on behalf of these victims nor any others.”

The previous sheriff, Ronnie Phillips, said the day after the shooting that the sheriff’s office and the Duncan family were experiencing unspeakable “sadness” and “grief.”

“We are all having to process this heartbreaking loss minute by minute,” Phillips said at the time. “Please keep April’s family, and our Sheriff’s Office in your thoughts and prayers.”

An obituary for April Duncan said that was “survived by her husband Tommy Duncan,” with whom she had “three beautiful children” after the couple was married on Nov. 27, 2004. Prior to her death, April Duncan worked as a school resource officer with the Scott County Sheriff’s Office and had received an award for her courage, the obit said:

The sheriff’s office said that April worked with them for approximately four years, and that she “always had a smile and loved her job working with the kids at our county schools.”