A carjacker held a Tennessee couple hostage at gunpoint for hours before killing the husband in front of his pregnant wife. The six-hour long crime spree ended with three dead, including the suspect, and while three others were left wounded, authorities said. However, the pregnant woman was found unharmed but has been traumatized since then.
According to the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation, the carjacker, Dangelo Dorsey, 29, had followed through a series of carjackings and shootings before fleeing from the police last Sunday. Dorsey went on this rampage the same day he fled from the police, authorities said.
Out of the Blue
Phillip Jordan Stevens, 23, and his wife Aileen were on their way to church Sunday morning when they got into a traffic accident with a vehicle driven by Dorsey on the Interstate 24 near Beechgrove, authorities said. Moments earlier, Dorsey had opened fire inside a moving vehicle, killing one person and wounding another, before jumping out of the car as traffic slowed down, according to police. Dorsey had allegedly been trying to carjack a different vehicle, when he shot a woman in the hand then exchanged words with a truck driver before shooting him in the face.
However, little did the Stevens know that Dorsey had just committed a series of deadly crimes nearby, according to David Rausch, director of The Tennessee Bureau of Investigation. After Dorsey rammed his car into the Stevens, the couple pulled over following which their hours-long nightmare began. Dorsey then held the couple at gunpoint. The couple was forced to drive back to their home at gunpoint by Dorsey, when he allegedly also stole their firearms and forced them to swap cars and pushed them into a blue Toyota Rav4.
Killed Mercilessly
Aileen was teaching Sunday School that morning at her church in Rutherford County. According to Rauch, after holding them at gunpoint for hours as the couple drove to their home, Dorsey at some point shot and killed Phillip and threw his body out of the vehicle on Interstate 24. He then drove off with Aileen. Police by that time got an alert and somehow managed to pinpoint the SUV following which a high-speed chase ensued before the vehicle crashed and flipped on the freeway.
Rausch said Dorsey then shot himself dead in front of Aileen. He added: "The female hostage was safely recovered." Phillips' body was later recovered along Interstate 24 westbound.
Aileen is a kindergarten teacher and is four months pregnant with their first child, a daughter. Her husband has been working at his construction job to provide for his growing family. During his violent rampage, Dorsey also killed 28-year-old Darcey Johnson, police said. Authorities are not sure what prompted the crime spree.
Police have launched an investigation and yet to join all the dots related to the carjacking of the couple. "This is a complex series of details and we have a lot of work ahead of us to connect all the dots," said Rausch.
