Nashville identifies Toni Gordon as second victim in basement cold case
Police announced the identification of Toni L. Gordon on November 9, resolving the identity of the second woman found buried beneath a Nashville home in 1987.
Toni L. Gordon · FILE PHOTO- Development
- 9 November 2026
- Coverage
- Cold-case development
- Current status
- Investigation updated
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- 5 verified sources
Police announce the second identification
Metro Nashville Police announced on November 9 that forensic genetic genealogy had identified Toni L. Gordon as the second woman found murdered beneath a Charlotte Avenue home in 1987. Gordon was a Nashville resident and was 31 when she was killed.
Her relatives had believed she moved out of state and lost contact with them, the department said. Police have notified them of the identification. The other woman found in the same basement, Sheila Cummings, was identified in 2025. Both victims now have confirmed names. [1] [2]
A resident discovered the remains in 1987
NewsChannel 5 previously reported that a resident noticed a skull protruding from the dirt floor of the basement and called police. Officers went to the West Nashville home on November 17, 1987, and found two skeletons buried beneath it.
Investigators traced James Shaffer, who had lived at the property and was in jail in Logan County, Kentucky. Detective Matthew Filter told the station that officers interviewed him there and that he confessed to killing both women and burying their remains. Their identities remained unresolved even after investigators identified the killer. [4]
DNA from daughters identified Sheila Cummings first
In its July 2025 announcement, MNPD identified the first victim as Sheila Cummings, 23, of Elgin, Illinois. Both sets of remains had been exhumed in January that year for modern forensic analysis.
Two days before investigators collected the samples, a woman contacted the Cold Case Unit after finding information about the case online. She said her mother had been missing since 1984. Investigators collected DNA from Cummings’ daughters, and the samples confirmed the relationship. WSMV reported that the match was confirmed on July 2. The second victim was still unidentified when police announced that result. [3] [5]
Earlier appeals sought a name for the second woman
Before Gordon was identified, investigators knew her by the nickname Lil’ Bit. In April 2025, police released a new forensic rendering in an effort to generate information about her identity. Their subsequent public appeal described a gold overlay on a front tooth and a copper Grim Reaper ring found with her. At the time of that appeal, the department estimated the second victim was between 20 and 40 years old and about 5 feet 7 inches tall.
An earlier NewsChannel 5 report said bone samples from both women had been sent to a laboratory as detectives pursued forensic genetic genealogy. At that stage, the Cold Case Unit was also asking people who recognised the descriptions to contact investigators. [3] [4] [5]
The killer had already received two life sentences
The November announcement said Shaffer received two life sentences for the murders and died in prison in 2004. Police believe the killings occurred about two years before the remains were found.
MNPD credited DNA Investigative Solutions, Bode Technology, the National Missing and Unidentified Persons System, the Davidson County medical examiner’s office and the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation with helping identify the victims. [1] [2]
Sources & further reading
- Second Murder Victim from 1980s Case Identified Through Forensic Genetic Genealogy ↗Metropolitan Nashville Police Department · 2026-11-09 · Primary source
- Nashville cold-case victim identified after 40 years ↗FOX 17 Nashville · 2026-11-09
- Woman Murdered In 1980s Double Homicide Case Identified Wednesday ↗Metropolitan Nashville Police Department · 2025-07-03 · Primary source
- Efforts continue to identify two women brutally murdered in West Nashville ↗NewsChannel 5 Nashville · Date not stated
- Illinois woman identified as victim of 1980s Nashville double homicide ↗WSMV · 2025-07-03
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