Who is John Wes Townley's ex-wife Laura? Slain NASCAR driver attacked her in 2019
ATHENS, GEORGIA: Former NASCAR driver John Wes Townley, 31, was fatally shot on Saturday night, October 2, in Georgia as reportedly he attacked his ex-wife and another man with a hatchet. As per the police, when officers responded to a call at a residence in the Five Points neighborhood of Athens, they found two people shot. Laura Townley, 30, was seriously injured, and her ex-husband John was later pronounced dead at a hospital.
Laura Townley’s divorce from John was "finalized this week," according to the police incident report. She was at the residence with Zachary Anderson, 32. "A preliminary investigation revealed that Mr Townley had arrived at this location and attacked Mr Anderson and Ms Townley with a hatchet," the Athens-Clarke County Police Department said in an incident report. "Mr Anderson fired several shots from his gun which struck Mr Townley and accidentally struck Ms Townley.” John was shot in the chest.
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Lt Shaun Barnett, an Athens Police Department spokesperson, said Anderson has not been arrested or charged with any crime as of Monday afternoon, October 4. “We are not ruling self-defense out as a possibility,” Barnett said, adding that the investigation into the fatal shooting of the NASCAR driver was still ongoing. Barnett said that the relationship between Laura and Anderson was not clear, but he said it is known they were “acquaintances.”
According to the Atlanta Journal-Constitution, John went to his ex-wife’s home on Morton Avenue upset about their divorce. Court records state the Townleys, who were married in October 2018, filed for divorce on February 3, 2021, and had been living apart. John reportedly filed for divorce on the grounds he and his wife were living in separation and their marriage was “irretrievably broken.” Laura Townley was reportedly residing at the Morton Avenue residence when the petition for divorce was filed. The divorce case was still pending when John was killed.
While Laura Townley is reportedly expected to survive, this is not the first time John attempted to assault her. More than two years ago, the former NASCAR driver was charged with battery-family violence, simple battery, and disorderly conduct.
According to court records obtained by the Daily Mail, in August 2019, the NASCAR driver threw Laura to the floor, leaving her “in reasonable fear of the safety of her life, limb, and health.” Reportedly, less than three weeks later, John agreed to plead guilty to a misdemeanor count of disorderly conduct, and in exchange, prosecutors agreed to drop the battery charges against him. As per the tabloid, on September 3, 2019, John was sentenced to a year of probation and a small fine. Under the conditions of his supervised release, he was barred from harassing, intimidating, or having any violent contact with Laura.
John raced eight seasons and made 186 starts across the NASCAR Xfinity and Truck Series, NASCAR's lower two national divisions. His victory in the Truck Series at Las Vegas six years ago was the only national series win of his career. He drove a car owned by his father, Tony Townley, who was a co-founder of the vehicle's primary sponsor, restaurant chain Zaxby’s.