GREENEVILLE, Tenn. (WJHL) – Greeneville investigators say a grand jury has ruled the death of a woman in a car fire late last year was accidental.
Evidence collected in the death of 56-year-old Sandra Kay Peterson was presented to a Greene County grand jury on Monday, according to a statement from the Greeneville Police Department (GPD). The jury reportedly found Peterson’s death an accident.
Details released by the GPD reveal that Peterson’s vehicle was lodged in a pile of dry hay on December 20, 2022.
Church officials at Eastside Baptist Church previously told News Channel 11 that surveillance footage from the scene showed Peterson’s vehicle colliding with the church’s nativity scene before hitting the corner of the building before the fire. After the collision, the hay ignited and burned Peterson’s vehicle while she remained inside.
An investigation into the fire was assisted by multiple agencies, including the Greeneville Fire Department and the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation.
