Family of Nashville firefighter Jesse Reed demands answers
Jesse Reed was found downstream from where his jeep went into the river in Humphreys County.
NASHVILLE, Tenn. (WSMV) - It’s been six years since the death of Nashville firefighter Jesse Reed and his family still wants to know what happened to him.
To call Jesse Reed a public servant would be a bit of an understatement. He was a U.S. Marine, a paramedic and a Nashville firefighter.
“He’s touched countless lives,” said his brother Jason Reed.
But his service to the community ended in 2018 when emergency responders pulled him out of the Tennessee River in Waverly.
Six years later, the trauma of seeing his body still lingers with his brothers.
“The sheriff even told us, ‘If it were my brother, I would not want to look at him,’” said Jesse’s brother Seth Reed.
“I mean, I can close my eyes right now and I still see his face that I still see every day,” said Jason Reed.
It’s why they say they can’t give up on getting answers to the questions they have about his death.
The two are convinced their brother was murdered.
“Absolutely, and the only person there that knows the facts of what happened is Ellen,” said Jason Reed.
Jesse’s wife Ellen Reed survived the crash.
Investigators call her their main “person of interest,” and they say the circumstances surrounding Jesse Reed’s death are suspicious.
Jesse Reed’s body was found a half mile upstream from where his jeep went into the river.
The windows and hatches were open and the autopsy lists drowning as a cause of death with blunt force injuries as a contributing cause.
Following the crash, Ellen Reed gave a statement, took a polygraph and allowed police to search her house and phone, but since then, when asked about the case in court, Ellen Reed has pleaded the fifth.
“Like, I don’t understand why you wouldn’t like let us know what happened to our brother, her husband,” said Jason Reed.
Ellen’s attorney, Joe Bednarz Jr., declined our request for an on camera interview.
Instead he referred us to court records which he said clearly show that Ellen Reed had nothing to do with Jesse Reed’s death.
“The truth is that he was drunk and he was driving and he drove into high flood waters and drowned. It’s a tragedy but that’s what happened,” said Bednarz.
But Jesse Reed’s family isn’t buying it.
“I’m enraged and I’ve been enraged for six years,” said Bednarz.
When it comes to getting answers, the Reeds said they will hold out for as long as it takes.
“Justice should happen and justice will happen. Here or in the next world,” said Seth Reed.
In a separate case, Ellen Reed recently pleaded guilty to DUI.
She was working as a paramedic for a private company but was terminated on Thursday.
We reached out to her attorney about that guilty plea.
Bednarz said he was looking into the situation but he didn’t know enough at the time to comment.
Copyright 2024 WSMV. All rights reserved.
