The Metro Nashville Police Department says the suspect is dead in the fatal shooting of 23-year-old Cassidy Jackson of Putnam County.
On Thursday (April 17, 2025), the Georgia Bureau of Investigation reported 35-year-old Robert E. Smith, Jr., of Cookville, fired upon Calhoun Police Department officers and then Whitfield County Sheriff’s Office deputies after a pursuit. He then crashed the stolen vehicle he was driving and was located inside with a self-inflicted gunshot wound.
Cassidy Jackson was found the night of April 11th in Nashville with a fatal gunshot wound to her head after she was reported missing by her family in Putnam County. Her vehicle was located in Atlanta.
Robert Smith was developed as a suspect over the course of the murder investigation, but warrants had not yet been obtained.
Authorities say that evidence collected in Georgia has linked Smith to Jackson’s murder in Hermitage as well as the other Nashville incidents.
The GBI’s investigation into Smith’s death is ongoing.