Jennifer Forsyth Hyatte was born on February 11, 1974, in the United States. She worked as a nurse and lived an ordinary life by most appearances. But her path took a drastic turn when she began working in a Tennessee prison where George Hyatte, a convicted felon serving a lengthy sentence for aggravated robbery and aggravated assault, was incarcerated.

While employed at the correctional facility, Jennifer developed a romantic relationship with George. Their connection deepened beyond professional boundaries, and she was eventually caught sneaking food to him—an incident that led to her dismissal from her nursing position. Even after losing her job, she remained committed to George, maintaining regular contact and planning for his future outside of prison.

Friends and observers later speculated that Jennifer’s infatuation with George grew into an obsession that overshadowed her judgment. The couple secretly devised a plan to free George during what was supposed to be a routine court appearance. Though Jennifer did not have a history of violence before this crime, her willingness to resort to deadly force marked a sharp departure from her previous life as a caregiver.

By the summer of 2005, Jennifer had transformed herself from a prison nurse to a desperate accomplice determined to help her husband escape custody, even at the cost of another person’s life.

On the morning of August 9, 2005, Jennifer Forsyth Hyatte carried out a brazen attack that shocked Roane County, Tennessee. That day, her husband George Hyatte was scheduled to appear in court to plead guilty to a robbery charge. After his appearance, around 10:00 a.m., officers Wayne “Cotton” Morgan and his partner began escorting George and other inmates out of the courthouse to load them onto a transport van.

Suddenly, Jennifer drove up to the courthouse entrance in a vehicle. Without warning, she stepped out and opened fire with a handgun, shooting Officer Morgan three times in the abdomen. As Morgan collapsed, his partner returned fire, but George quickly climbed into the passenger seat of Jennifer’s vehicle. The couple sped away, leaving chaos behind them. Officer Morgan was rushed to a hospital but succumbed to his injuries.

In the hours that followed, authorities launched a multistate manhunt. Investigators discovered that after fleeing the courthouse, the Hyattes abandoned their getaway car—a Chevrolet Venture—in the parking lot of an Econo Lodge in Erlanger, Kentucky. From there, they hired a taxi driven by Mike Wagers, who unknowingly transported them to a Best Value Inn in Columbus, Ohio. By the next evening, law enforcement tracked them down and arrested them without incident.

On August 10, 2005, the Hyattes were formally charged with first-degree murder. Jennifer was held at the Tennessee Prison for Women in Nashville. In September 2007, she pleaded guilty to the murder of Officer Morgan as part of a plea deal to avoid the death penalty. In exchange for her life sentence without parole, she agreed to testify against George if necessary. However, her testimony was ultimately not needed—George Hyatte pleaded guilty in 2009 to first-degree murder and all related charges, receiving a life sentence without the possibility of parole.

Jennifer Forsyth Hyatte’s descent from prison nurse to convicted killer became the subject of widespread news coverage.