 The victim found murdered in a Putnam County home has been identified as the great-niece of legendary performer Johnny Cash. COOKEVILLE, Tenn. (AP) — The great-niece of the late singer Johnny Cash has been found stabbed to death and stuffed in a box in a house, authorities in Tennessee said Thursday. Johnny Cash's brother, Tommy Cash, released a statement asking for prayers for the family after the loss of his granddaughter. A man identified as William Austin Johnson, Cash's boyfriend, was being treated for stab wounds at Vanderbilt University Medical Center in Nashville, Andrews said. Johnson is the father of Courtney Cash's young daughter, said Putnam County Sheriff David Andrews, and was able to take the 20-month-old girl from the home and drive himself to a hospital in White County. "We are completely heartbroken," the statement said. Wayne Gary Masciarella, 27, was taken into custody in Cookeville and charged with first-degree murder. Detectives say they think the two victims invited Masciarella, a friend of theirs, over to the home late Tuesday night, where an altercation ensued and the stabbing took place. The sheriff said a 911 call was placed about 10:40 a.m. Wednesday to dispatchers in White County. That second call led the officers to the home on Rice Road, where they found Courtney Cash's body just inside the front door. "My personal theory is that he was going to hide it for as long as he could," Andrews said. "This was a senseless, tragic death of a young lady whose life was probably taken as a direct or indirect result of drugs, and that's just the world we live in. Masciarella is being held without bond, and he is due to appear in court on April 21.
– Police this week found the body of Johnny Cash's great-niece stabbed to death and stuffed in a cedar box in the Tennessee home where she lived with her boyfriend and their young daughter, the AP reports. Courtney Cash, 23, and boyfriend William Austin Johnson met up with a friend, Wayne Gary Masciarella, Tuesday night; an altercation reportedly took place in the house. Johnson fled with the 20-month-old baby girl, WSMV reports, and was hospitalized with stab wounds; police found Cash's body Wednesday morning. The scene was "somewhat bloody," the sheriff says. "There was a struggle." Cash's body was inside a chest just inside the front door, and the sheriff says the suspect may have been attempting to hide her body. Masciarella, 27, has been arrested and charged with first-degree murder; no motive has been released, but the sheriff says the stabbings were likely "a direct or indirect result of drugs." Courtney Cash was the granddaughter of Johnny Cash's brother Tommy. Her baby was unhurt, the Tennessean reports.