Murderer Convicted in Double Homicide
Prosecutors in DA Charme Allen’s Career Gang Unit obtained convictions against a man who murdered two victims, stole their property, and set their house on fire. Benjamin Tillman Foust, Jr., 36, was convicted of two counts of First Degree Murder, ten counts of First Degree Felony Murder, four counts of Especially Aggravated Robbery, two counts of Aggravated Arson, and two counts of Unlawful Possession of a Weapon. Judge Scott Green imposed two life sentences for the murder charges and set the case for sentencing on March 10 to determine whether those life sentences will run consecutive to each other and to determine the sentences in the other charges.
In a four-day trial, Assistant District Attorney TaKisha Fitzgerald presented proof to the jury that on August 16, 2011, Foust, Teddie Allen Jones, and Ashley Renee Tanner targeted the victims and broke into their North Knoxville home. Jones knew that the male victim had recently undergone surgery and had been prescribed opiate painkillers. Once inside the residence, Foust and Jones bludgeoned the victims to death with a hammer, stole pills, a safe, and a shotgun, and set the residence on fire. Investigators with the Knoxville Police Department were able to solve the crime and apprehend the defendants.
“”These victims were brutally murdered for a handful of pills,”” said DA Charme Allen.””These two men have earned every day of their sentences.””
The co-defendants in this case pled guilty in 2013. Teddie Allen Jones received two consecutive life sentences plus seventy-five years. Ashley Renee Tanner pled guilty to Facilitation of Felony Murder and received a twenty-five-year sentence. At Foust’s sentencing hearing, prosecutors will seek consecutive life sentences plus additional time for the robbery, arson, and weapons charges to ensure that Foust never leaves prison.
If you have any questions, please contact Sean McDermott at 865-215-2515 or Sean.McDermott@knoxcounty.org. For more information about the District Attorney’s Office, visit our website at dag.knoxcountytn.gov and follow us on Facebook and Twitter.