The Warren County community is left mourning the death of an expectant father who was carjacked on I-24 on his way to church Sunday morning and was shot and killed later that day.
Phillip Jordan Stevens, 23, has been identified by the TBI as the Warren County resident who was killed Sunday. His pregnant wife, Aileen Stevens, a kindergarten teacher at Hickory Creek Elementary, was with him when they were carjacked and was taken hostage.
Aileen was also in the car when her husband’s killer, identified as Dangelo Dorsey of St. Louis, Missouri, crashed on the interstate during a police chase around 3:45 p.m. Sunday and then took his own life.
A Go Fund Me account set up for the Stevens family had raised $10,430 as of Monday morning. It can be found at https://www.gofundme.com/f/support-for-the-stevens
According to TBI director David. B. Rausch, the incident began Sunday morning on I-24 around 9:30 a.m. when Dangelo Dorsey shot and killed a person in the vehicle in which he was traveling. That person has been identified as 28-year-old Darcey Johnson, the TBI said. Another person in that vehicle was also wounded.
As traffic stopped along the interstate, the TBI director said Dorsey got out of the vehicle he was in and attempted to carjack another driver, but that driver ran away. He then reportedly approached a nearby truck and shot that driver in the face during an exchange between the two.
Rausch said Dorsey attempted to carjack another driver, but as she drove away, he fired a shot through the car’s window, striking her in the hand.
Dorsey was then successful in carjacking a Ford Mustang, which he rear-ended on the interstate. It’s not clear what vehicle Dorsey was driving at that point.
Aileen and Jordan Stevens were inside the Mustang and believed it was just a fender-bender. However, Dorsey ordered the young couple at gunpoint to drive him to their home, which is located in the Smartt Station area of Warren County.
Once at their home on Mountain View Drive, the suspect took two firearms, according to Rausch, and they left in a Toyota Rav4 with the Stevens couple still as hostages.
Law enforcement officials converged on the home on Mountain View Drive and forced their way inside but Dorsey had already left with the couple as his hostages. There was a heavy law enforcement presence in the Morrison area for several hours on Sunday.
“At some point Dorsey shot and killed the man along I-24 near Exit 111,” said Rausch.
The TBI director said the Rav4 was spotted by law enforcement on I-24 and a chase ensued. Rausch said the chase reached speeds of 100 mph before Dorsey flipped the Rav4. Dorsey then took his own life, according to the TBI director.
Aileen Stevens is reportedly not seriously injured. She was in the car when it flipped.
“We are deeply saddened by the innocent lives impacted by this event,” said Rausch.
The TBI director stressed some details are still sketchy and he urged anyone with cellphone video or information to come forward as law enforcement officials try to piece together the puzzle of what happened at multiple crimes scenes on Sunday.
Rausch said Dorsey has an “extensive” criminal record in Missouri and it is believed he was just traveling through Tennessee on the interstate when the violence unfolded.
“It’s critical for us to get help from the public,” said Rausch, who described the tragedy as a very complex investigation.
