A few days ago, former American Idol contestant Chris Daughtry and his wife Deanna shared the news that they had lost their daughter Hannah Price at the young age of 25. Both were devastated by the turn of events, and Daughtry even postponed some tour dates in the wake of the news being made public. However, shortly thereafter, reports seemed to indicate Hannah’s death may have been being investigated as a homicide. Now, Deanna has addressed what happened with those reports.
In a lengthy and emotional statement on Instagram, Deanna addressed how the information that Hannah Price may have been murdered began to run around in the first place, indicating that information spread almost like a game of telephone after she herself had commented on the matter on social media a few days earlier. According to Deanna:
The news floating around that we said our daughters death is being investigated as a homicide is false! We were not told that and never said that to anyone! The day Hannah was found I shared some concerns I had with some people I know and said we won’t know anything for sure till after they complete the investigation. Someone took that and went running with it or they talked to someone else who then made assumptions and went running to the press with it. None of us can go jumping to conclusions. Having questions & concerns is one thing but harassing someone and calling them a murderer before all the facts are in is wrong on every level regardless of their history. If you have information that you feel the police should know about this then tell them and let them do their job.
In addition to Deanna's admission that she "had concerns" after learning about her daughter's passing, Deanna’s had also written in her early tribute to Hannah, “We are awaiting the autopsy results to determine how Hannah sustained the injuries that caused her death.” Shortly thereafter, a separate report broke via outlets like TMZ that noted Price’s partner Bobby Jolly had been arrested on the same day her body had been found.
At the time, neither the police nor Hannah’s family were commenting on the matter, and the rumors continued to roll around. You can see Deanna's earlier post below.
The D.A. later did publicly comment on the matter (also via TMZ) and stated a few days ago that Deanna’s daughter and Chris Daughtry’s stepdaughter’s death was not being classified as a homicide at the point they were contacted. Bobby Jolly's arrest was also noted to be unrelated to Hannah's death at that time. The 8th District Tennessee District Attorney issued a statement that noted:
This is a death investigation and any attempt to classify it as a homicide investigation at this time is premature and irresponsible.
However, this apparently didn’t not stop any of the aforementioned information from continuing to roll around, and Deanna Daughtry is now sharing the pain she and her family have been dealing with online in the day’s following Hannah’s death. She specifically calls out Chris’ fame as being a “public job” but not one that should mean people can say whatever they want to capitalize on her family's pain.
I lost my child and I’m having to now also deal with rumors and assumptions about her. The people who loved her are in pain and we are mourning they are not talking to the press, they are not spreading rumors and they sure as hell are not making this about themselves. So everyone please just stop! Let the investigating officers do their jobs and please remember snippets of someone’s life does not define who they really are as a person. Hannah was on this earth with us for 25 years there is so much more to her story than what you are reading. I loved my daughter so much & I am experiencing the deepest emotional pain I have ever felt! Please stop making it worse for those of us who love her by spreading rumors & saying disgusting things about our family. We are real people!Just because my husband has a public job does not mean this is OK to do.
Most notably, she asked for people who have felt the need to be "saying disgusting things" and "spreading rumors" to take a step back. There may have been questions initially within the family regarding what happened, but at this point the Daughtry family is now taking the time to grieve and come to terms with Hannah's passing, which would difficult under any circumstances, but seems to be particularly tough given what they have been facing in recent days. Our thoughts go out to the family during this time.
