So this black knew the victims, and sometimes used their house “as an address.”

Hmmmmmm…

WBIR:

A Knoxville man now faces formal murder charges in the March 8 slayings of three women.

Desmon Rhea, 24, was being held in Knox County custody in lieu of $2 million bond. He’s been in custody since hours after the killings.

Rhea is accused in Knox County Criminal Court of first-degree murder in the deaths of Barbara Rogers, 57, and 55-year-old Mildred Blackwell, in the home they shared on Trousdale Road. Records suggest Rhea sometimes used that as an address as well as a nearby residence.

He’s also charged with killing Blackwell’s daughter, 29-year-old Juliana White, was found shot to death on Division Street.

Rhea, who has a prior arrest record for violence against women, also is charged in the nine-count indictment with aggravated child endangerment, using a gun during a felony and the aggravated burglary of Rogers’ home.

Knoxville police have said Rhea and the victims knew each other, but haven’t released a motive.

The police said the victims knew the suspect, but we’re not told more than that.

I’ve no doubt that some virulent mudsharking was afoot here.

Knox News:

A Knoxville man has been taken into custody in connection with a triple homicide that left three women dead at two different locations over the weekend.

Desmon Paul Rhea, 24, was arrested for revocation of probation Sunday at a Burbury Lane residence, near the scene where two of the three victims were discovered, according to a Knoxville Police Department news release.

Charges are pending against Rhea, who is being held without bond, police said. The case will be handed over to the Knox County District Attorney’s office.

KPD identified the victims at a news conference Monday as Juliana White (also known as Juliana Fraley), 29; White’s mother, Mildred Blackwell, 55; and Barbara Rogers, 57, Blackwell’s roommate.

“We typically don’t do this a ton, but based on the circumstances of this one — having three deceased in a homicide — we felt it important to get it out and let the community and all of you hear from us,” KPD spokesman Scott Erland said.

Authorities found White at 4:38 a.m. Sunday, dead in the roadway along Division Street, just west of Liberty Street, in West Knoxville. She had multiple gunshot wounds to her torso, police said.

Soon after, investigators responded to a house on the 6600 block of Trousdale Road, where Blackwell and Rogers were found dead from gunshot wounds.

Monday, Erland named the victims, said words of comfort for their friends and families and then praised a handful of investigators who helped locate Rhea 12 hours after the initial call came in.

“We grieve alongside you and want to say that the grief and dismay was channeled into a concerted effort to identify and apprehend the perpetrator of this unspeakable act,” Erland said. “We only hope that our work brings justice and clarity and ultimately leads to some semblance of closure for those left behind.”