Suspected South Nashville homicide case becomes deadly crash investigation

NASHVILLE, Tenn. (WSMV) - The man found dead inside of a crashed truck on East Thompson Lane Tuesday morning died from a collision, not an act of foul play, officers with the Metro Nashville Police Department said.

According to police, 40-year-old Jason Andrew Norfleet died after crashing his pickup truck at the intersection of East Thompson Lane and Lawndale Drive.

Norfleet was speeding down Thompson Lane in a 1995 GMC truck at about 1:30 a.m. when the rear passenger side hit a concrete barrier as it was going around a bend in the road, MNPD said. He died at the scene of the crash.

Police said medics at the scene noticed injuries to Norfleet’s body that “concerned” them, and that he looked as if he had a gunshot wound to his head.

However, those injuries were determined to have been older and from another occurrence.

“I nearly didn’t see anything until I let the dogs out, and when they started barking, I started looking down the road,” witness and neighbor Michelle Kelly said. “There were like half a dozen cop cars. They had the whole street over there blocked off, and then there was a truck. It looked like it had been in an accident.”

MNPD said the autopsy revealed Norfleet had no gunshot wounds, and his injuries were consistent with a vehicle crash. Police said surveillance video showed Norfleet’s truck speeding down Murfreesboro Pike moments before crashing into a guardrail on East Thompson Lane.

“It’s very sad, especially when you don’t know the circumstances, you always wonder, was it just random, or is it targeted,” neighbor DJ Fretz said. “You just don’t know, and that’s probably the scariest part.”

MNPD’s fatal crash team is now leading this investigation.

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