SULLIVAN COUNTY, Tenn. (WJHL) – A man facing murder charges in Sullivan County for the death of his roommate has now been charged with a separate murder of a woman in South Carolina in 2009.
A release from the Greenville County Sheriff’s Office in SC states that the department’s Cold Case Unit has obtained a murder warrant for Jeffery Ray Phillips. As of Monday, Phillips, 38, was serving time in Sullivan County for an unrelated murder.
Investigators say the cold case unit was looking into the murder of Allison Southerland-Craine, who was found deceased under a bridge in Greenville, SC.
“The twenty-four-year-old had suffered multiple blunt force trauma injuries, and following the initial investigation, the case went cold due to a lack of leads,” the release states.
According to the Greenville County Sheriff’s Office, investigators found out that Phillips had been a regular cab driver for Southerland-Craine and that she had been angry over money that he reportedly owed her. The release states that the motive in the murder is still under investigation, but cell phone records provided sufficient evidence to obtain a warrant for Phillips.
As of Monday, Phillips is still being held in the Sullivan County Jail awaiting trial for the other murder.
In 2017, Sullivan County authorities charged Phillips with first-degree murder in the death of his former roommate, Timothy France. Phillips reportedly confessed to killing France after they argued over drugs. France’s cause of death was reported as severe trauma to the head as a result of blunt force.
