Prosecutors are ramping up their investigation into the death of rock star Chris Daughtry‘s stepdaughter, Hannah Price.
As we reported over the weekend, the 25-year-old woman was found dead at her home in the Nashville area on Friday. Daughtry has since postponed a series of upcoming concerts to be with family and deal with the aftermath of Hannah’s tragic and unexpected passing.
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Now, the office of the District Attorney for the 8th District of Tennessee is speaking out about the situation.
Making it clear that they are still trying to figure out everything about what happened to Price in her home, prosecutors released this statement cautioning the public from jumping to conclusions (below):
“This is a death investigation and any attempt to classify it as a homicide investigation at this time is premature and irresponsible.”
That statement is noteworthy, as the D.A.’s office used specific wording that calling Price’s death a homicide would be “premature” at this point rather than flat out wrong.
The reason we mention it is that on Monday, TMZ spoke to a source “directly connected to the Daughtry family” who claimed that detectives have allegedly already told the grieving family that Hannah’s death was a homicide. If that report is true, it flies in the face of the District Attorney’s plea here to avoid early classification.
Regardless, it’s clear that police are investigating the matter, and will presumably have more information soon.
Price’s boyfriend, Bobby Jolly, was arrested the very same day her body was found. Police have said his arrest came on “an unrelated matter,” though, and they have not publicly labeled him either a suspect or a person of interest in her death.
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Hannah was the rock star’s step-daughter, having been born to mom Deanna along with 23-year-old brother Griffin as part of a previous relationship. Deanna and the 41-year-old American Idol alum first met in 2000; they share 10-year-old twins Adalynn Rose and Noah James.
Price had a tumultuous last few years before her passing. According to the New York Post, her biological father died by suicide in March 2018. Several months after that, she was shot in the face while trying to defend a friend from an alleged gang-related incident, eventually needing surgery and a prosthetic eye.
More recently, in April of this year, she was arrested in a hit-and-run incident after being a passenger in a car where the driver allegedly fired a gun at another vehicle before fleeing.
At this point, our hearts go out to Price’s family, friends, and loved ones as they grieve her unexpected and untimely death. And we sincerely hope investigators and detectives in Tennessee can quickly and correctly determine whatever may have caused it.
R.I.P.