Investigators determined McKinzie was engaging in drug abuse and suffered from paranoia. McKinzie’s blood tested positive for toxic levels of methamphetamine and amphetamine.

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District Attorney General Bryant Dunaway released the following statement:

In the early morning hours of December 4, 2025 at approximately 4:49 a.m., deputies with the Dekalb County Sheriff’s Office responded to a call involving gun shots on Smithville Highway at the intersection with Captain’s Point Road in Dekalb County.

Upon arrival, deputies found a woman deceased in the roadway with apparent gun shot wounds. She was dressed in coveralls.

A loaded and cocked handgun was lying next to her body.

Also lying next to her body was a plastic skull mask and a backpack containing a Stealth Cam vision monocular, multiple flashlights, a white Zmoto home surveillance camera, a portable power station and an MTSU lanyard with Subaru keys and house keys as well as multiple bike rack keys and apparent TN State building keys.

The woman was later identified as Ashleigh E. McKinzie, age 41.

Also on scene when officer arrived was an adult male, identified as Todd C. Stanton, age 27.

He fully cooperated with responding officers and investigators. Officers found Todd Stanton’s handgun located on the hood of his truck.

The investigation is now complete with the receipt of the final autopsy report from the Medical Examiner’s Office.

Some of the facts revealed through investigation include the following:

Todd Stanton reported that he got up early that morning, packed a lunch and got ready for work.

He rounded the curve in his truck at Captains Pointe Rd. near Smithville Hwy. when he saw someone come into his headlight path with their arms raised.

He was unsure whether the person was male or female at first. The person stopped his truck by moving her hands in a backward and forward motion and stepping out in the roadway.

Then he noticed a gun in the person’s left hand.

The person speed walked toward his truck. Stanton retrieved his handgun from the console of his truck. When the woman moved closer toward his truck she brought the gun down and aimed it at him.

He felt that he could not take the chance of what else she would do.

Stanton fired through the windshield of his truck at her.

She bent down in front of his truck. He could not see where the gun was but felt like she was reaching for something so he fired two more rounds through the windshield when she raised back up.

He then got his phone and called his Dad. He then hung up and called 911. The first 911 dropped due to cell service. Then called back.

At the time of the incident, Ashleigh McKinzie was employed as a professor of sociology at Middle Tennessee State University.

Video surveillance from a nearby home surveillance system was obtained from the homeowner.

The video captured the incident from a distance. The video shows at 4:47 a.m., a truck comes in frame driving on Captains Pointe Road toward Smithville Hwy.

Its headlights illuminate a person near the stop sign. The person steps out into the roadway with hands in the air and an object in one hand while the truck stops.

The person walks toward the front of the truck and can soon be seen falling to the ground. The driver of the truck then exits the truck and stands near the front of the truck until emergency services arrive.

Ashleigh McKinzie lived in a home across the Highway from the scene. Her current boyfriend was asleep in her home at the time of the incident.

He reported the following information to investigators. McKinzie claimed she was having issues with an ex-boyfriend and that she was going to court to seek an order of protection.

She expressed worry about her ex-boyfriend stalking her so she bought extra security cameras, night vision and a green & black .380 caliber handgun.

He further reported that the night prior, McKinzie thought that her ex-boyfriend was hiding in the wood line; she claimed to hear him rustling leaves.

The current boyfriend further stated he was attempting to help install cameras on her house, at her request, but got tired of her wandering off to find her ex-boyfriend in the woods so he went to bed about 2 to 3 a.m.

McKinzie was pointing toward the highway where she believed she heard noises but he did not hear anything. He thought she was just being paranoid.

He reported that her paranoia has been worse the past few weeks. She has been fixated lately and has robbed her of her sanity.

He and McKinzie drank alcohol occasionally and smoked marijuana to calm down.

She recently bought a green and black .380 gun from a store in Murfreesboro.

McKinzie bought the night vision monocular just a few days prior in order to see in the woods.

He had no knowledge of McKinzie having a mask. But, she did recently tell him that her ex-boyfriend was now wearing a wolf mask when she saw him.

According to court records, Ashleigh McKinzie sought to obtain an order of protection against her ex-boyfriend but was unsuccessful in doing so.

At the time of the incident, McKinzie was in possession of a backpack containing a Stealth Cam vision monocular, multiple flashlights, a white Zmodo home surveillance camera, a portable power station and an MTSU lanyard with Subaru keys and house keys as well as multiple bike rack keys and apparent Tennessee State building keys.

Students and others affiliated with MTSU reported that Ashleigh McKinzie made statements to them that she believed her ex-boyfriend had been stalking her and that he had been breaking into her home.

No evidence exists that indicates that her ex-boyfriend was stalking her or was breaking into her home or present on her property.

After the investigation began, a self-described long time friend of Ashleigh McKinzie contacted law enforcement investigators. She reported that McKinzie lived a “double life.”

She enjoyed risky behaviors and heavy drug use. She has been very paranoid lately believing that someone broke in to her house to move stuff around.

The friend further stated that she moved to Missouri a year ago and had previously been a roommate of McKinzie in Murfreesboro before McKinzie bought her current home.

According to the friend, she is not a “goody two-shoes professor.” She was staying strung out on drugs and it was becoming obvious.

A year ago, it was getting bad. McKinzie would stay up 3 to 4 days at a time.

McKinzie used cocaine, meth, Adderall and mushrooms frequently. She doesn’t remember McKinzie being completely sober very often. When they lived together, McKinzie would go out and cheat on her boyfriend and then come home and accuse her boyfriend of cheating.

When she would be awake for a few days, she would hear people talking to her that weren’t there.

Text message between McKinzie and her ex-boyfriend were obtained by investigators. The dialogue between McKinzie and her ex-boyfriend shows that her ex-boyfriend told McKinzie to leave him alone; he ceased further dialogue with McKinzie.

McKinzie’s text messages to her ex-boyfriend can be described as a threatening rant and include admissions of having drugs.

Law enforcement records indicate that officers responded to her home on seven prior occasions where claims were made that McKinzie’s ex-boyfriend was trespassing on her property and broken in.

No evidence of this claim was ever observed by officers.

The State Medical Examiner performed an autopsy on the body of Ashleigh McKinzie. Her cause of death was determined to be “multiple gunshot wounds.”

The autopsy report also included toxicology testing of Ms. McKinzie’s blood. Toxicology analysis is positive for toxic levels of Methamphetamine (2300 ng/ml) and amphetamine (320 ng/ml).

After a review of the investigative results, this office is declining any prosecution. The actions of Todd Stanton were in his own defense.

The loss of any life is a tragic situation.

The actions of Ms. McKinzie presented an imminent danger to the life of Todd Stanton. His actions in the use of defensive deadly force under the circumstances were legally justified.

The investigation is now closed.

— Bryant C. Dunaway, District Attorney General