A Smithville mother and her boyfriend were named in sealed indictments returned by the DeKalb County Grand Jury today (Tuesday) in the death of the woman’s 23 month old son, Colten Alexander May over the weekend.
23 year old Cody Key is charged in the indictment with felony murder and aggravated child abuse while the child’s mother 19 year old Jessica May is indicted on a charge of aggravated child neglect.
Bond for Key is set at one million dollars. May’s bond is $300,000. Both will appear for arraignment in DeKalb County Criminal Court on Friday, May 22.
“The child suffered great injuries and as a result the child died,” said District Attorney General Bryant Dunaway in an interview with WJLE Tuesday morning.
According to D.A. Dunaway, the child was brought to the hospital by the couple Sunday morning but he was already deceased. The youngster was found to have internal and other physical injuries to his body. Key is alleged to have inflicted the injuries. May is accused of having known the abuse had been taking place.
“At approximately 3:11 am Sunday Smithville Police Sergeant Travis Bryant and Officer Joey Myers were dispatched to the emergency room of DeKalb Community Hospital in reference to a possible child abuse resulting in the death of a two year old child. Investigating officers deemed the death to be of a suspicious nature,” said Captain Steven Leffew. ” I was notified along with Lieutenant Matt Holmes and Detective Brandon Donnell . Additionally District Attorney Bryant Dunaway and investigators from the District Attorney’s office and the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation responded,” he said.
The case remains under investigation by the Smithville Police Department , the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation, and the District Attorney General’s Office.
“We presented the case to the DeKalb County Grand Jury (Tuesday, May 19) related to the death of a 23 month old male child,” said D.A. Dunaway. ” Over the weekend the child was brought to DeKalb Community Hospital by the child’s mother and her boyfriend. The child was deceased at the time of arrival. We believe the child was killed by the boyfriend late Saturday night or early Sunday morning in their home where they resided together. We believe the child died based upon physical injuries to the body and internally which were inflicted by the boyfriend,” he said.

“The DeKalb County Grand Jury issued true bills today (Tuesday) indicting both Cody Key with first degree felony murder. The mother of the child Jessica May has been indicted for aggravated child neglect based upon a pattern of abuse and neglect over a period of time. We believe that the allegations of continuous abuse and neglect of the child over a period of approximately one year was known by the mother and that she either participated in or allowed the events to happen,” said D.A. Dunaway.
“We take these matters very seriously. The abuse and neglect of a child is very serious. It’s one of the most horrendous types of crimes that one can imagine,” he said.
“This is truly a tragic event. I pledge absolute commitment from the Smithville Police Department in the continued pursuit of justice in this case. Our prayers for strength and heartfelt condolences go out to the family,” added Captain Leffew.
Count 1 of the indictment against Key alleges that “Cody Key, on or about the 16th or the 17th day of May, 2015, in DeKalb County did unlawfully, knowingly, and other than by accidental means treat a child born June 10, 2013 in such a manner as to inflict injury on the child and the act of abuse resulted in serious bodily injury to the child, thereby committing the offense of aggravated child abuse”
Count 2 of the indictment alleges that “Cody Key, on or about the 16th or 17th day of May, 2015, in DeKalb County did unlawfully and knowingly inflict fatal injuries upon the child during the perpetration of aggravated child abuse and said injuries did cause the death of the child on or about the 16th or 17th day of May, 2015.”
The indictment against May alleges that “between the 17th day of May, 2014 and the 17th day of May, 2015 in DeKalb County, Jessica May did unlawfully, knowingly, and other than by accidental means, neglect the child so as to adversely affect the health and welfare of the child, thereby committing the offense of aggravated child neglect”.

Officials celebrated the completion of a barrier wall in the main dam embankment of Center Hill Dam during a ceremony today at the work platform on top of the dam. The $115 million foundation barrier wall is a key component of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers Nashville District’s Center Hill Dam Safety Remediation Project.
Tennessee Rep. Terri Lynn Weaver of District 40 sang the National Anthem and spoke about how amazing the lake is and how the local community below the dam is very interested in the status of the work to rehabilitate the dam.

“This lake here produces over $70 million a year to the local economy,” Weaver said. “This is a beautiful lake. We love this place and this is an important project here to get done… it (the lake) provides a lot of jobs, a lot of recreation, and it’s just plain gorgeous.”

The work to install the barrier wall began in 2012. Bauer Foundation Corporation construction crews worked 24 hours a day, seven days a week for much of the contract duration to complete this phase of the dam safety work.

“The barrier wall provides a permanent ‘barrier’ to potentially harmful seepage beneath the main dam earthen embankment,” said Linda Adcock, project manager. “Completion of this phase of the project significantly increases the safety of the dam.”
Adcock explained that the concrete barrier wall is approximately 2.5-feet thick constructed vertically along the embankment in overlapping rectangular columns as deep as 308 feet from the top of the dam and deep into the solid-rock foundation.
Lt. Col. John L. Hudson, Nashville District commander, said that the completion of the Center Hill barrier wall is an important milestone in the rehabilitation of Center Hill Dam.
“Today is about recognizing the hard work of team members from the Corps and our prime contractor Bauer who have been able to accomplish some very complex and difficult technical work. The completed project has significantly increased the reliability of the dam and ensured its structural integrity for generations to come,” Hudson said.
The “first bite” of a giant auger drill rig turned up the first dirt of the project July 11, 2012. The last concrete pours for the barrier wall were completed in March 2015.
Alex Cartwright, project manager for Bauer, said that the company is very proud of its leading role in the restoration of Center Hill Dam and immensely grateful to the local businesses and people whose invaluable contribution helped make this project an outstanding technical success.
“It’s done. It’s all in there now,” Cartwright said about the installation of the concrete barrier wall. “Something like 80,000 cubic yards of concrete went into making this wall.”
Cartwright explained that not all of the concrete actually remained in the ground because roughly 10 percent of it got cut back out when forming the series of interlocking panels. He said the continuous wall runs deep into the foundation of the embankment terminating into the nearby hillside.
This is the second of three major contracts to remediate the Center Hill project. The third and final contract expected to be advertised later this year involves the installation of a concrete berm downstream of the auxiliary dam embankment. The auxiliary dam is a secondary earthen embankment that fills a low area in the landscape just east of the main dam.
The distinguished guests also participated in constructing a small-scale model of the barrier wall to culminate the ceremony. The five concrete panels in the model represented the importance of the lake to the community, the importance of the lake to the Cumberland River System, the expertise of Bauer, the positive impact of the Corps of Engineers construction management team, and how the elements of the team worked together to form the barrier wall.
The lake levels continue to be operated between elevation 630 feet above mean seal level in the summer and no lower than elevation 618 MSL during the late fall and early winter.
Center Hill Dam is rated in the Corps’ “Dam Safety Action Classification I,” which is the most urgent category for Dam Safety modification in the Corps. Even though the concrete barrier wall is complete, the classification of the dam cannot be changed until the third and final contract is completed, the remediation works are assessed and the project is reclassified. The final reviews are expected to be completed in 2018; the lake level is expected to be raised in time for the 2018 summer recreation season.
(The public can obtain news, updates and information from the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers Nashville District on the district’s website at www.lrn.usace.army.mil, on Facebook at http://www.facebook.com/nashvillecorpsand on Twitter at http://www.twitter.com/nashvillecorps.)
Photo Cutline: Linda Adcock (Left), project manager for the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers Nashville District Center Hill Dam Safety Project, assists Tennessee State Rep. Terri Lynn Weaver place a ceremonial concrete form into a small-scale model commemorating the completion of the Center Hill Dam Barrier Wall Project May 18, 2015 on the work platform of the dam. (USACE photo by Mark Rankin)

Jonathan Munoz, DCHS Soccer player, signed with Martin Methodist College on Friday May 8th.
Munoz will receive Academic/Sports scholarships in the amount of $56,000 over the next four years. Jonathan has been a player on the DCHS soccer team for three years and has received 1st Team All-District honors. He will be majoring in Biology at Martin Methodist and plans to become a dentist.
Joining Munoz for the signing were DCHS Soccer Coach Dylan Kleparek (Coach K), Assistant Coach Rhonda Merriman, and DCHS Principal Patrick Cripps
(Photo provided by Lisa Craig)

Listen for “TECH TALK” Thursday, May 21 from 8:00 a.m. until 8:30 a.m. on WJLE sponsored by Smithville Computer Repair. This week’s guest will be Gary Malone of Eagle Point Financial. He will be discussing Medicare. You may call in your questions to him at 615-597-4265.
Dr. Jamie Fornabaio of Wheeler Veterinary Clinic was the guest last week. She is pictured here with Elaine Swicker (left) and Dan DelaCruz of Smithville Computer Repair (right)

A Rock Island man has been arrested in Warren County and charged with criminal homicide in the death of a former DeKalb County resident
49 year old Timmie Lee Bain is believed to be responsible for the murder two years ago of 45 year old Daniel Mayo even though Mayo’s body has not been found.
Mayo had been a long time resident of DeKalb County before relocating to Warren County. According to Warren County Sheriff Jackie Matheny, Mayo had worked and lived with Bain prior to his disappearance.
Authorities have reportedly focused their search for Mayo’s remains on a hog farm where the men worked on C. Rowland Road, near the Mud Creek Community at Rock Island. Cadaver dogs have been brought in to assist in the search.
The arrest of Bain comes after an lengthy investigation which has spanned several months. While authorities had received an earlier tip concerning the homicide they were unable to establish that a murder had occurred until a new development surfaced in the case.