TBA Law Blog


Posted by: Stacey Shrader Joslin on Feb 17, 2020

Chattanoogan.com recounts a unique story about an adoption hearing that took place in a Rutherford County courtroom in January. Friends and family, who a dozen years earlier had been united in grief following the murder of Melissa Atkin, recently gathered for the adoption of her son Lucas. Presiding over the adoption hearing was Senior Judge Don Ash, the same man who in 2008 sentenced Lucas’s biological father to life in prison for Melissa's murder. Lucas had been living with his maternal grandparents, Linda and Douglas Atkin, since that time. He turned 18 in December and decided he wanted to change his name from Reynolds to Atkin to honor his mother. His grandparents also wanted to adopt him but had held off to avoid interaction with his father. Ash held the hearing on Jan. 15, Melissa’s birthday.