Sevier News Messenger Sevier County News and Opinion
Two suspects who robbed and assaulted a man at a Sevier County flea market in December of last year are still at large, and the victim has since died from his injuries.
Detectives with the Sevierville Police Department released the following photos and are requesting assistance from the public to identify two persons of interest in the flea market murder investigation of 71-year-old Donald Lawton of New Market, Tenn.
The two suspects, a man and a woman, reportedly approached Lawton in the parking lot of the Great Smokies Flea Market and Crafts Fair the afternoon of Dec. 20, 2015, hit him in the head with a baseball bat and took an undisclosed amount of money. The couple fled in a green Ford Contour or Taurus with heavy body damage to the driver’s door, striking the victim with their vehicle as they left.
Lawton was transported to LeConte Medical Center, then transferred to the University of Tennessee Medical Center a few days later, where he died on Jan. 18, 2016 as a result of injuries sustained during the robbery.
Working with the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation, detectives have been able to enhance photos from a nearby business at the flea market and provide a sketch of the female person of interest.
An FBI sketch of the female person of interest in the flea market murder.
The Great Smokies Flea Market and Crafts Fair is located at 220 West Dumplin Valley Road in Kodak, Tenn., just off Interstate 40 at the 407 Exit.
Anyone with information as to the identities of either person of interest in this flea market murder is asked to call Sevierville Police Detective Lt. Hinson at 865-868-1751.
All persons are considered innocent until proven guilty in a court of law.
