A 60-year-old Dyer County woman shot and killed her husband and critically wounded their adult son Thursday morning at a rural home near the Lenox community, then died after driving the wrong way on Interstate 155 and striking a tractor-trailer, authorities said.
The shooting and subsequent crash, which unfolded on Dec. 18 across two scenes more than 10 miles apart, prompted an hourslong response by deputies, troopers and medics. Sheriff Jeff Box identified the woman as Sherry Lydon and the man killed as her husband, William John Lydon Jr. Their 24-year-old son was rushed to a hospital in critical condition. Investigators described the episode as an apparent murder-suicide and said they were working to document a full timeline from the first 911 call on Tar Hill Road through the fatal wrong-way collision near the Mid-South Dragway.
Deputies were dispatched in the morning to the family’s home along Tar Hill Road, a two-lane route bordered by fields and farm shops east of Dyersburg. Inside, they found William Lydon Jr. dead from gunshot wounds and the couple’s son gravely injured, according to a preliminary account. Sherry Lydon was not at the residence. As deputies called for additional units and medics, a separate alert came in from I-155: a head-on crash in the eastbound lanes near Highway 181. Responders arrived to find a tractor-trailer with front-end damage and a second vehicle with catastrophic impact. Lydon, identified as the wrong-way driver, was taken to a hospital and later pronounced dead, officials said. The truck driver was not injured.
In a brief statement, Box said evidence collected at both scenes pointed to a single sequence that began at the home and ended on the interstate. He called the case “an incredibly tragic situation” and asked for patience as his office completed reports. A preliminary investigative note said William Lydon Jr. was likely shot while asleep and that the couple’s son was shot soon afterward. Detectives recovered physical evidence consistent with that timeline. Family members and neighbors told investigators the violence seemed out of character and said Lydon had recently undergone surgery and was reportedly struggling with mental health problems afterward. Officials emphasized that the precise motive remains unknown.
Thursday’s shooting rattled the quiet Lenox area, where widely spaced houses sit back from the road and early traffic is mostly farm and delivery trucks. Tire marks and a dusting of gravel tracked patrol cars pulling in and out of the driveway as investigators photographed rooms and processed shell casings and other items near the bedroom. Deputies canvassed nearby properties for any exterior cameras that might show when vehicles left the area. At the interstate scene, troopers marked the travel lanes with orange paint and documented debris and impact angles while a heavy wrecker prepared to remove the car. Tow operators staged on the shoulder as a Tennessee Department of Transportation truck slowed passing traffic.
Authorities released the names and ages of the husband and wife by Thursday night and confirmed the son’s age while withholding his name because of his medical status. As of Saturday morning, no hospital updates had been released publicly, and officials did not specify where the son was being treated. Investigators also did not say how many rounds were fired inside the home, the caliber of the weapon involved or whether deputies had responded to any prior calls at the address this year. The sheriff’s office said no other injuries were reported in either incident and that no additional suspects were being sought.
Records show I-155 is a short interstate spur linking Dyersburg to the Mississippi River bridge and Caruthersville, Mo., with access to Highway 181 near the Mid-South Dragway. Wrong-way collisions on the stretch are rare but often severe because approaching drivers have little time to react. Troopers described Thursday’s crash as a direct head-on impact. Photos taken during the response showed the semi’s cab largely intact and the car’s front end crumpled against the centerline, with debris strewn across both lanes. Traffic backed up in alternating queues as crews rotated vehicles and cleared the roadway.
Neighbors who gathered along Tar Hill Road said the Lydons had lived in the area for years and kept to themselves, waving from the mailbox and occasionally chatting at the farm supply store. A man who declined to be named said he first noticed patrol lights through the trees and then watched as investigators moved in and out of the house. Others later drove past the I-155 scene as evening fell and saw lane markers and troopers’ vehicles under flashing lights. “We’re praying for the son and for everyone who loved this family,” Box said in his statement, adding that the office would provide updates after essential notifications and paperwork.
Detectives said standard steps now include interviews with relatives and neighbors, a full evidence inventory from the residence, and a room-by-room examination to confirm the order of shots and the location of shell casings. The medical examiner will conduct autopsies for William and Sherry Lydon and provide cause-and-manner rulings to investigators; routine toxicology can take weeks. The Tennessee Highway Patrol will handle the primary crash report from I-155, including speed estimates, lane positions and whether any onboard data can be retrieved from either vehicle. Once completed, reports from both scenes will be assembled into a case file maintained by the sheriff’s office.
The shootings arrive near the end of a year that saw several high-profile family-violence investigations across West Tennessee. Local clergy and counselors often provide support in the days after such events, and county agencies coordinate to check on surviving relatives. Officials did not release plans for a public briefing or note any scheduled memorials as of Saturday. The sheriff’s office said additional public records — incident audio, dispatch logs and certain scene photographs — would be reviewed for release under state law once reports are finished and next-of-kin notifications are complete.
By late afternoon Friday, the home on Tar Hill Road remained taped off while detectives finalized measurements and processed the last interior rooms. On I-155, lane markings from the crash were still visible, and a small memorial bouquet had been set near a milepost. Traffic flowed normally as troopers cleared the final cones. The sheriff’s office said the case is being treated as a murder-suicide pending final autopsy results and the son’s condition. Any further public update is expected when hospital officials release his status or when the medical examiner issues findings in the coming days.
Author note: Last updated December 20, 2025.