Billings Charged with Trying to Stab His Wife to Death

A DeKalb County man has been charged with trying to kill his wife after she was found by the side of the road in the Ragland Bottom area cut and bleeding from a stabbing.
29 year old Andrew Lafate Billings of Antioch Road,Smithville is charged with the attempted first degree murder of his wife 19 year old Adriana Billings. He is under a one million dollar bond and will make a court appearance on April 20.
Adriana is at an undisclosed hospital being treated for stab wounds.
The warrant against Billings states that “on the 4th of April, 2017, Andrew Lafate Billings did intentionally and knowingly stab his wife, Adriana Nichole Billings numerous times about the upper body. Billings did commit this act with premeditation with the intent to kill Adriana Billings. Adriana was taken by helicopter with life threatening injuries. This offense did occur in DeKalb County”.
Sheriff Patrick Ray told WJLE that the victim was found Tuesday morning on Allen Ferry Road off Backbone Ridge Road in DeKalb County.
“At 9:06 a.m. a call came in to dispatch from someone who found a woman on the side of the road bleeding from the throat and said she appeared to have been stabbed.”
“Officers arrived ten minutes later and found the woman lying in a ditch with knife wounds to the neck, face, and hands. The victim was seen by EMS and then airlifted by helicopter. She suffered life threatening injuries,” said Sheriff Ray.
“While doing inventory at the scene, detectives developed Andrew Billings as a suspect and were able to obtain a vehicle description. A BOLO (Be on the lookout) was sent to surrounding counties.”
“The Tennessee Bureau of Investigation and District Attorney General’s Office were summoned to the scene by the DeKalb County Sheriff’s Office.”
“White County authorities later received a domestic call in their county and learned that Andrew Billings had gotten into an argument with a family member. A White County detective spotted the vehicle Billings was driving and did a traffic stop at 11:19 a.m.”
“A search warrant was later obtained and executed on the vehicle Billings was driving and officers found blood and a bloody knife with hair on it inside the automobile. Billings was found to have cuts to his hands,” Sheriff Ray continued.
Billings was taken into custody. He was booked in DeKalb County on the attempted first degree murder charge but is being held in White County on a failure to appear in court charge there. DeKalb County has a hold on him after he faces his White County offense.
Sheriff Ray wishes to thank the TBI and DA’s office and the White County Sheriff’s Department for their help in the investigation. No motive has been released for the stabbing.
Andrew and Adriana Billings first made news last November when they fled to Michigan with their 8 month old child prompting an Endangered Child Alert. They are still facing aggravated child abuse and initiation of a process to manufacture methamphetamine charges from that incident.