Fentress Couple To Speak At Nashville Event To Remember Homicide Victims

A Fentress County couple will be speaking at a state event remembering homicide victims Thursday night, in the memory of their daughter and granddaughter.

Julie and John Mullinix’s daughter Kimberly Wyatt and granddaughter Sarah Wyatt were fatally shot in Crossville in 2006. The Tennessee Season to Remember event gives the couple the chance to remind anyone going through something similar that they are not alone.

“When these things first happen, you think you’ll never smile again, you’ll never be happy again, and there’s never a time that you forget, but you are able to go on with life,” Julie Mullinix said.

The couple said it was a complete surprise to be asked to speak at the event. John Mullinix said people do not understand that when something like this happens it effects your entire life.

“They told us that three people had submitted our names,” Julie Mullinix said. “We don’t know who that was. I would like to say we don’t really seek out opportunities to speak, but if there’s anytime we can honor our girls we will certainly do it.”

The event will be held at the First Baptist Church in Nashville on December 7.

“We’ve had to lean on god throughout this entire thing,” John said. “Even still, you have to learn to just take it one day at a time. People ask me about it all the time, how do you get through, you get through one day at a time.”

In 2021 the man who killed the Julie and John Mullinix’s daughter and granddaughter, Huston Lloyd, Jr. filed for clemency to get out of prison. The couple gathered nearly 4,000 signatures on a petition opposing clemency for Lloyd. John said there is always something that drags you back to the murder of a loved one, but you can get through it.

“It’s something you have no idea what’s going on until you’re thrust into that position,” John said. “We feel that we can help others by sharing with them our circumstances and what we went through.”