Following the sudden death of Coffee County Mayor Judd Matheny Tuesday morning, city and county officials held a press conference that evening to provide updates to the investigation.
According to Tullahoma Police Chief Chase Sons, officers received a call Tuesday, April 2, at around noon about a possible death at East Lincoln Street, and upon arrival discovered the body of Matheny, who was found deceased in a vehicle in the driveway. Matheny’s office would later confirm his passing. 14th Judicial District Attorney General Craig Northcott then requested the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation (TBI) to assist with both the Tullahoma Police Department and the DA’s Office in the investigation.
Tullahoma City and county officials would later hold a press conference at the Tullahoma Municipal Building Tuesday evening at 8 p.m., where they went over the information they had available with the public. Tullahoma Police Chief Chase Sons briefly reiterated the investigation, and said the department expressed its deepest condolences to both the Matheny family and members of the Coffee County community.
“Mayor Matheny dedicated his life to serving our community as both a business man, farmer, community leader and public servant,” Sons said. “His leadership and dedication will be solely missed by all who knew him.”
Sons said the investigation is ongoing and it had been handed over to TBI by Northcott’s request. Sons also thanked the Coffee County Sheriff’s Department and the DA’s office for their assistance in the investigation before letting County Sheriff Chad Partin take the podium.
Partin stated they all were saddened by Matheny’s passing as Matheny was a true friend to the county and citizens, and a true public servant to Coffee and Warren counties. He thanked all the sheriff’s departments and members of the state legislature for reaching out to him, including State House of Representative Scott DesJarlais who he said was a close friend of Matheny.
“It’s going to be some tough days ahead,” Partin said. “We want to be there for Mayor (Matheny’s) two children and all the many friends he had here in Coffee County.”
Partin also addressed his fellow elected county officials and said they need to keep their heads as they have jobs to do, as that was what Matheny would want them to push forward.
“Being a former military man that he was, I believe his dedication to our country, our county and our state could not be said enough," Partin said.
Holding back tears, Partin said he and Chief Deputy Frank Watkins will miss his undivided guidance and leadership.
“We are blessed in Coffee County to have the outstanding leadership we have in our county commission, and I know Judd is very proud of them and knows they will carry the torch,” Partin said.
Chairman Pro Tem and District 6 County Commissioner Dennis Hunt spoke after Partin and stated he reached out to the state Comptroller of the Treasury Jason Mumpower and to CTAS (County Technical Assistance Service) representative Heather Duncan to confirm that as Chairman Pro Tem he will assume the role as interim county mayor. He also expressed his condolences to the Matheny family.
“This is a somber and momentous occasion,” Hunt said. “The next few weeks and months will prove that out.”
He added there was no need for any kneejerk reactions, and assured both the county taxpayers and county employees “business as usual” will be their mantra.
After a moment to collect himself, Hunt said Matheny once told him that the county government can “run on autopilot” in the absence of the mayor, and that will be proven in the next few weeks.
“I do appreciate all the support I got today, many phone calls and texts,” Hunt said.
Northcott followed Hunt and said he echoed the sentiments that have already been said, adding that Matheny was a friend and will be missed. He said he received the call of his death shortly after noon, and made his way to the scene. After arriving to the scene and consulting with Partin and Sons, Northcott said he made the decision to ask for the help of TBI.
“The death of Judd was both unintended and unexpected,” Northcott said.
He said they began the investigation trying to determine the cause. As the investigation will continue, Northcott said at this time there was no evidence of trauma to the body, no evidence of foul play nor any evidence of self-inflicted injuries or suicidal intention.
“We will await the results of the autopsy to have cause of death determined as we continue our investigation,” Northcott said. “The facts and circumstances may change but at this point it appears to be no traumatic cause for this death.”
Northcott also addressed the many rumors and speculation that circulated throughout the day and told residents that it was important there are family and friends involved in this situation, and such speculation does great harm.
“I would ask everyone to please allow the investigation to be completed,” Northcott said. “We will share the results at the appropriate time and please respect the privacy of Judd’s family as they go through the most difficult situation. We all covet your prayers and covet your support and we thank you for those we received as of right now.”
City Administrator Jason Quick followed up from Northcott and praised everyone for doing “one of the hardest jobs” he could imagine from responding to a citizen in need to finding out it was a friend.
“Under some unbelievable trying circumstances, I had seen the men behind me, I’ve seen the men in the audience and I’ve seen many others who have responded in a way that as citizens of Coffee County and Tullahoma would not be more proud of these gentlemen,” Quick said.
Quick said that everyone has a “Judd story”, and while he was only able to work with Matheny briefly Quick said Matheny showed him what he needed to learn to navigate certain situations as City Administrator.
“I will forever be grateful for Judd, but I’ll be more grateful for Judd for his friend for the past many years,” Quick said.
Quick echoed Northcott’s sentiments early and encouraged citizens to rally around one another, just as Matheny would ask of them to do, and to keep Matheny’s family in their prayers.
“I could not be more proud of watching Coffee County professionals, Tullahoma professionals and TBI professionals work so well together in such a collaborative yet very difficult situation as what I saw told,” Quick said. “I am proud of that, but unfortunately it was for a bad situation.”
Quick finished his comments by letting Matheny’s family know that the city of Tullahoma raises its thoughts and prayers, and the city will be there for them as long as they need it. Quick then welcomed Tullahoma Mayor Ray Knowis to give his comments.
Knowis said Matheny was a professional and personal friend, and he had worked with him for the last 25 years. He said to receive the notice of his death was insurmountable.
“Judd was a person who believed in cooperation with between the city and the county, and how much better our city would be and our county would be through corporation,” Knowis said. “It is a tremendous loss to the city but we will rally around Judd and all the things the vision that Judd had for our county, and we would survive, but because of Judd we will be better for it.”
Following the press conference, Northcott, Partin and Sons spoke with both The News and Manchester Times. According to Northcott, the call was originally initiated as a welfare check at Matheny’s residence, with Sons adding that officers were quick to the scene.
Northcott explained that given all local parties’ connection to Matheny, and wanting a thorough investigation, he thought it was best to contact TBI to both lead the investigation and to use their resources to assist in thoroughly investigate the scene.
“With all us locally having obvious connections that we have to Matheny I thought it would be good to tap into the resources at TBI, where one would have an independent investigation that wasn’t clouded by some of the personal things that could come into an investigation sometimes when you know the victim,” Northcott said.
As for the next steps, Northcott said TBI will have a few follow-up procedures they will complete but the main step will be the results from the autopsy report.
Northcott encouraged residents to resist the urge to speculate and circulate rumors, and to focus on supporting the family and others who will be heavily impacted by Matheny’s passing. Sons and Partin echoed Northcott’s message to support Matheny’s loved ones and not to spread the rumors. Partin added that while the county was in the hotbed of entering budget season and such, he has full confidence in the county commission and elected officials to step up the plate and continue to work as Matheny would want.
Matheny was serving his first term as Coffee County mayor after being elected in 2022. Prior to that time, Matheny, a businessman and farmer, had served Coffee and Warren County in the State House as State Representative from 2003 to 2018. He was a veteran of the Tennessee National Guard (artillery) and the Tennessee Drug Task Force. Matheny was 53 at the time of his passing.
Duane Sherrill and John Coffelt contributed to this story.
