Caitlyn Kaufman

An effort is underway to name part of a Nashville, Tenn., interstate highway in memory of Butler County native Caitlyn Kaufman.

The Wilson County, Tenn., commissioners unanimously voted in favor of a resolution asking the Tennessee Department of Transportation to name a one-mile section of I-440 in memory of Kaufman, who was 26 when she was shot and killed Dec. 3 while driving to work on the highway.

Nashville Metro police said Kaufman was driving to St. Thomas West Hospital, where she worked as a nurse in the intensive care unit, at around 6:30 p.m. when at least six shots were fired at her car. One fatal bullet hit Kaufman in the shoulder.

The homicide case filed against co-defendants James Cowan, 28, and Devaunte Hill, 21, was moved in January to a grand jury.

A third person, Dimeneshia Carter, 21, also was charged in relation to the crime.

Kaufman worked as an intensive care nurse at St. Thomas West Hospital for two years after receiving a nursing degree from Butler County Community College in 2018.

A scholarship created in her memory at BC3 has grown to $27,000 from donations.

She was a 2012 graduate of Butler High School and received a bachelor’s degree in athletic training from Clarion University in 2016.

She was a member of Clarion University’s dive team for four years.