Tennessee woman beaten, burned alive because friends were afraid she'd 'snitch,' DA says

CLARKSVILLE, Tenn. (WZTV) — A District Attorney said two men accused of killing a woman and setting her body on fire did so because they were afraid she would “snitch,” reports say.

The trial against Clarksville men Kevin Forman, 29, and Kellum Williams, 37, is ongoing this week. 

They are both accused in the slaying of Amy LeeAnn Murphy, a local 31-year-old woman.The murder took place in 2015 and investigators said Murphy’s body was found burning in a field near Highway 76 West in Robertson County near the Montgomery County line.

According to The Leaf-Chronicle, during opening arguments, the DA alluded that Murphy was murdered because the suspects were afraid she would snitch about their drug ring activities.

The victim and Forman had just been arrested five days earlier on drug charges and Forman apparently became paranoid, the DA said. 

At this time, the group of suspects confronted Murphy, tied her up and assaulted her, leaving her to lay in her own blood for hours, the newspaper reported.

She was later transported via truck to a field where she was set on fire and the DA believes she might have been alive at the time.

Williams and Forman are each charged with first-degree murder, especially aggravated kidnapping and first-degree murder in perpetration of a kidnapping. 

Court proceedings are continuing on Tuesday.

Two others, Carol Williams and Sandra Murphy, are also charged in the murder and Ernest Poe is charged with accessory after the fact. 

These three suspects are expected to testify this week and are not currently on trial, the newspaper reported.