YUBA COUNTY, Calif. — The death of a California Highway Patrol commander in Tennessee on Dec. 10 is under investigation. While the investigation unfolds, ABC10 will update details as they become available.
The Tennessee Bureau of Investigation (TBI) confirmed their agents are investigating the death of Julie Vernann Harding.
Officer Ricardo Ortiz with the California Highway Patrol told ABC10 Harding was a commander for the CHP's Yuba Sutter area. She had been with the CHP since 1999 and was a commander in the Yuba Sutter area since 2018.
Susan Niland, a spokesperson for the TBI, said Harding was found dead after investigators were called to a home on Lake View Drive in Celina, Tennessee. While the incident happened in Clay County, Niland said the TBI was investigating her death at the request of 13th Judicial District Attorney General Bryant Dunaway.
Before Julie Harding died, her husband Michael Harding was found dead on Sept. 26, according to the Kentucky Department for Public Health. Michael and Julie Harding separated months earlier on May 23, 2022, according to court documents.
After Michael Harding was found dead, Natasha Davis, who identified herself as Michael Harding's girlfriend, filed two police reports with the Murfreesboro Police Department saying Julie Harding was trespassing on her property and harassing her.
On Oct. 10, Davis told police Julie Harding took a dog, owned by Michael and Julie Harding, from her home. Davis, 43, said she took custody of the dog when Michael Harding went missing weeks earlier. The officer who took the report from Davis said they were taking out an active warrant for criminal trespass.
Days later, on Oct. 13, Davis filed another police report saying Julie Harding was harassing her.
Davis said her Netflix account was hacked and her family accounts had been deleted. Davis said the only two profiles were hers with a picture of a monkey, and another profile named "Julie" with a photo of an angry princess.
Davis told police in the report she was scared because Michael Harding was shot in the head and his cause of death was being investigated. ABC10 reached out to confirm the details of Michael Harding's death.
On Nov. 8, Thomas O'Donnell, a 60-year-old from Napa, was arrested in Sacramento in connection to the death of Michael Harding, according to Kentucky State Police.
O'Donnell was arrested on suspicion of killing Michael Harding. He is in the Sacramento County Main Jail and is set to be extradited back to Kentucky, police wrote in a press release.
According to Lisa Marchesoni, spokesperson for the Rutherford County Sheriff's Office, Harding was charged with criminal trespassing on Dec. 8 and was released the same day. Clay County sheriff's deputies then found her dead on the morning of Dec. 10.
Watch more on ABC10: CHP Yuba-Sutter commander found dead in Tennessee
