Married Couple Arrested For East Nashville Murder

NASHVILLE, TN -- Monday morning, 45-year-old Shay Jones was found dead in her Powers Avenue home in East Nashville.

Employees of the Park Center, which manages housing for people with mental health and addiction issues, came to Jones' home to check on her after another resident of the house said she'd been unable to get in touch with Jones about changing the thermostat.

The Park Center employees found Jones with a cord around her neck that had been tied to the bedpost and was initially thought to be a suicide; however, police later discovered that her car was missing. Jones had been dead at least two days before she was discovered.

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On Monday, police in Birmingham, Ala. found Kayla Burroughs, 31, of Hermitage, in Jones' car. Someone in Birmingham had called police after allegedly hearing Burroughs talking about a murder. She was held by police in the Alabama city and during an interview, Burroughs reportedly admitted Jones was murdered.

According to detectives, she said that she and her husband, 36-year-old Joshua Burroughs, had been using drugs together in late April and that her husband crafted a plan to blackmail or rob Jones of jewelry and the car. Jones resisted, according to Kayla Burroughs, and Joshua Burroughs hit her in the face, tied the cord around her neck and strangled her.

Metro detectives learned that Joshua Burroughs had been arrested in Jones' car for drunken driving in George County, Miss. April 25 and that Kayla Burroughs then drove the car to Birmingham.

Joshua Burroughs was still being held in Mississippi but refused to talk to MNPD detectives.

Both Burroughses will be charged with criminal homicide on their return to Nashville.

Photos via Metro Nashville Police