Copperhill Woman Charged with Murder in Fatal Shooting of Boyfriend

COPPERHILL, Tenn. — A Copperhill woman is facing first-degree murder charges after authorities say she fatally shot her boyfriend during a dispute late Friday night.

According to the Polk County Sheriff’s Office, deputies were called to a home on Grassy Creek Road, where they found 39-year-old Buell Cody Thomason dead from a single gunshot wound to the face.

Investigators say Thomason’s girlfriend, 51-year-old Rhonda G. Deal, was identified as the shooter. Witnesses told deputies the couple had been arguing earlier in the evening over a bag Thomason had borrowed or taken from another resident of the house to carry his belongings.

Authorities noted that about thirty minutes passed after the argument appeared to settle before the gunshot was fired. Deputies later recovered the weapon believed to have been used — a single-shot .410 gauge shotgun.

Deal was arrested at the scene and is currently being held at the Polk County Jail without bond.

The case remains under investigation by the Polk County Sheriff’s Office.