"Victim" From Cleveland Valentine's Day Triple Slaying Charged In Case

Twanna “Tart” Blair, Mike “Money” Younger Indicted

  • Thursday, January 18, 2007

A woman who was the only survivor of the 1999 Valentine's Day triple slaying in Cleveland, Tn., has been charged in the case.

Cleveland Police announced Thursday that Twanna “Tart” Blair, 29, was indicted Wednesday by the Bradley County Grand Jury along with Mike “Money” Younger, 32.

Ms. Blair was found shot at the scene of the Feb. 14, 1999, attack in which Orienthal James “O.J.” Blair, 18: Dawn Marie Rogers, 25, and Cayci Higgins, 19, were found dead at an apartment at 431 19th St. NE.

Ms. Blair has been charged with three counts of conspiracy to commit first-degree murder and aggravated perjury. Younger has been charged with three counts of first-degree murder.

The pair went before Judge Amy Reedy and were denied bond. They are currently in the Bradley County Jail.

Last November, 26-year-old Maurice Alexander Johnson, formerly of Sweetwater, was arrested in the case.

He was charged with three counts of first-degree murder and one count of Attempted first-degree murder.

Cleveland police chief Wes Snyder earlier described the shootings as a "revenge-type attack."

The foursome had been sharing the apartment for about five weeks. The Blairs were cousins. Police said Johnson did not live at the apartment, but knew the residents.

Officials said a seven-member Task Force including Cleveland Police Department Investigators, Tennessee Bureau of Investigations agents and Bradley County Sheriff’s detectives, was formed almost two years ago to work on the case.

Cleveland Detective Duff Brumley said, "The investigation in this matter has been cumulative between the Cleveland Police Department, the Bradley County Sheriff's Department, the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation, the Sweetwater Police Department, and the Madisonville Police Department.

"Those involved in this investigation have received assistance from the Federal Bureau of Investigation, the United States Bureau of Prisons, and the Tennessee Department of Corrections and other agencies.

"If the involved agencies had not worked together, this investigation would not have progressed to the point it has.

"The investigation is ongoing and other arrests are possible."

Breaking News
Jury Finds Illegal Immigrant Guilty Of Strangling Girlfriend; DA Wamp Says He "Shouldn’t Have Even Been In Our Country"
Jury Finds Illegal Immigrant Guilty Of Strangling Girlfriend; DA Wamp Says He "Shouldn’t Have Even Been In Our Country"
  • 4/29/2025

A Criminal Court jury has found Jose Angel Rios Ramirez guilty of first-degree premeditated murder in the strangling of his girlfriend, Oliva Jarquin Pena. District Attorney Coty Wamp said, ... more

Signal Mountain Discussing What To Do With Backup Fire Engine; Inclusive Playground Proposed
  • 4/29/2025

The Signal Mountain Council and Fire Chief Larry Sloan discussed what to do with the Fire Department Engine #2, purchased in 2012. It needs extensive work and is now out of service. It has been ... more

Catoosa County Man Gets 20 Years For Meth Trafficking
Catoosa County Man Gets 20 Years For Meth Trafficking
  • 4/29/2025

A Catoosa County man has been sentenced to 20 years in prison for meth trafficking. A Catoosa County jury found Jason Earnest Jones guilty of trafficking in methamphetamine and possessing ... more