JACKSON, Tenn. (AP) — A Christian ministry major accused of killing his fiancee and staging it as a suicide used a gun that belonged to one of his friends, police said.
Charlie Pittman, a senior at Union University in Jackson, Tenn., was charged with first-degree murder and is being held without bail, police said in a news release Saturday.
The 21-year-old Christian ministry major shot and killed Olivia Greenlee on Tuesday night and tried to make it look like a suicide, the release said. The body of the music education major was discovered inside her 2001 Toyota Corolla parked on the university campus Wednesday morning. Union University is a private Christian liberal arts school with about 4,200 students.
The Jackson Sun (http://bit.ly/1ftjfXn) quoted Capt. Tyreece Miller on Saturday as saying that the gun belonged to a friend of Pittman’s and that the gun was taken without the friend’s knowledge.
Miller said the state of the crime scene left questions about whether her death should be ruled a suicide.
“While investigating her background, we didn’t find any information that led us to believe she had suicidal tendencies,” Miller told the newspaper.
Pittman has been described as a devout student and a leader. He is scheduled to be arraigned Tuesday in Jackson City Court. It’s not clear whether he has an attorney. The Associated Press called the Madison County Sheriff’s office Monday, but officials there said jail records did not give the name of a lawyer. A call to the Jackson City Court went unanswered because the office was closed for Presidents Day.
Pittman had never been arrested previously, police told the Jackson Sun. He has been suspended from Union and from his position as youth pastor of Providence Baptist Church.
Police have not said what they believe is the motive for the shooting.
