Jean Shepard’s Husband Benny Birchfield Stabbed in Bizarre Double Killing
This story has been updated.
The husband of the late Jean Shepard is recovering in the hospital Sunday evening after being stabbed at the home he shared with the country legend in Hendersonville, Tennessee, while the granddaughter of Jean Shepard and Hawkshaw Hawkins is dead. 79-year-old Benny Birchfield was found by police in his front yard, suffering from a stab wound at 3 a.m. Saturday (12-17) morning. Police had received a phone call about a stabbing in the 200 block of Elnora Court in Hendersonville. Inside the house, police found another individual stabbed who later died at the hospital, and another that was dead of a gunshot wound.
18-year-old Icie Hawkins was the stabbing victim. Icie Hawkins is the daughter of Don Hawkins, one of two children Jean Shepard had with her first husband, Hawkshaw Hawkins. Icie was living with Birchfield in the home at the time. The other deceased individual, 21-year-old Travis Sanders, did not live there. He was shot with a .38-calibre pistol. According Sgt. Jim Vaughn of the Hendersonville Police Department, after speaking with Birchfield at the hospital and examining the crime scene, they believe the incident “was contained at the house,” and they were not looking for any suspects, and the public was not thought to be in danger.
The conclusion by Hendersonville police only leaves a few scenarios possible, including that 21-year-old Travis Sanders killed himself, but that has not been confirmed by police. Everybody in the Hendersonville home was positively identified, though police have not released Benny Birchfield’s name officially. However, they are calling him a 79-year-old man, and Birchfield did reside at the house where the incident occurred.
Benny Birchfield underwent surgery at a local hospital, and his condition is said to be improving. Known throughout the country music community himself, Birchfield is a musician who once performed with Roy Orbison and the Osborne Brothers. He also worked with the Osborne Brothers as their tour manager and bus driver for many years. Jean Shepard passed away in September at the age of 82.
December 18, 2016 @ 8:27 pm
That Tennessean article isn’t the best written. The 18 year old wasn’t just Benny’s granddaughter, but also Hawkshaw’s granddaughter.
Prayers for the family.
December 18, 2016 @ 9:58 pm
It’s blowing my mind that none of these major news outlets (I’ve checked) have made the connection that one of the victims was Jean and Hawkshaw’s granddaughter. I have no background in journalism whatsoever and as soon as I read the article yesterday and saw “Hawkins” light bulbs went off. Don’t get me wrong, no matter what really happened an already grieving family has lost a child (and at this time of year) & has an elderly family member is injured. Absolutely heartbreaking. That being said I just think the Granddaughter of two Opry Members being murdered is a bigger news story than “2 killed” (and probably bigger that Jean Shepard’s Husband Injured”. Prayers to All
December 18, 2016 @ 10:31 pm
Look, this story is still developing, and it’s being reported on by weekend crime reporters during a holiday cycle who are not going to have an in-depth knowledge on the complex family tree of Jean Shepard who is dead, and Hawkshaw Hawkins who has been dead for over 50 years. I’ve reported on Jean Shepard half a dozen times, and had a hunch that perhaps Icie was a granddaughter of Hawkshaw, but there’s no easy way to verify that information unless you have access to a family tree chart. You can’t pull this information up on Wikipedia, and even if you could, you would have to verify it with a living family member. You just can’t assume. This is a very complex situation, and I’m sure all of the details will come out in due course. At the moment, there isn’t even confirmation that Benny Birchfield is the stabbing victim. Since he didn’t die and is part of an active investigation, the police are not confirming his name. It’s only assumed that’s who it is because it’s a 79-year-old man that resided at the same house Birchfield is known to live at.
Saving Country Music’s story has been updated, but there is still many, many questions about this incident. The proper respects and identifying information for everyone involved will eventually be reported as soon as they are verified. Everything is preliminary at this point.
December 19, 2016 @ 11:17 am
Readers must also keep in mind that oftentimes, law enforcement agencies aren’t forthcoming with information. That makes reporting on incidents like this even more difficult.
December 21, 2016 @ 10:58 pm
Understood, and in case I didn’t make it clear in no way was I referring to SCM in my criticism of the media reports.
I was just stating that if they could make the assumption it was Jeans’s husband from “79 year old man” at her residence (which is what they headlined all their articles before knowing concretely) and make the leap that the girl was HIS granddaughter, one would think it would be an even more educated guess that someone with the last name “Hawkins” residing in Jean Shepard’s house would be HER granddaughter, not to mention Hawkshaw’s. The original article never even alluded to the fact it was Jean’s granddaughter, only Benny’s. It’s hypocritical to insinuate assumptions could be made about some (even more vague) facts and not others. I understand the “Hawkins” connection to Jean Shepard would be much more apparent to Country Music fans than the general public, however considering the original story was reported by the Tennessean I would think that information would be right in their wheel house and fresh at that. I mean Jean just passed 3 months ago and the 50th Anniversary of the plane crash was just a few years ago, both subjects in which the paper did/does heavy coverage of every year. Not to mention a big old picture of Jean & Hawk was at the bottom of the article (holding Icie’s father no less). Take it a step further & a simple google search of Hawkshaw Hawkins would show Icie was more than likely named after his mother.
Many people, Jean Shepard included, were always a bit perturbed that Patsy Cline’s death in the plane crash ended up overshadowing Hawkshaw’s (& Copas’) in ensuing years. It’s unfortunate that history seems to be repeating itself with their granddaughter’s murder & Benny’s injury.
May 9, 2017 @ 3:50 am
Sam you are so right ..I can’t beleave we are so numb to a tragic lose of life … saddens me to know that he younger generation is so thoughtless to not recognize the connection….