2nd Man Pleads in Parkway Village Homicide

Dec. 7, 2021 – A 24-year-old man pled guilty Tuesday for his role in the attempted aggravated robbery and shooting death of a man whose body was found at a Parkway Village intersection in 2016, said Shelby County Dist. Atty. Gen. Amy Weirich.

    Derrick Gardner of Indianola, Miss., pled guilty in Criminal Court to second-degree murder and attempted aggravated robbery. He was sentenced to 30 years in prison.

   Last week co-defendant Jonathan L. Smith, 27, of Olive Branch, Miss., pled guilty to the same charges and also was sentenced to 30 years.

   Two others charged in the case are awaiting trial.

   Investigators said Gardner was in a pickup truck with the others when they approached Bertram Thompson around 2:45 a.m. on Feb. 4, 2016, near Outland Road and Cromwell Avenue.

   A short time later passing motorists found Thompson face down in the intersection with multiple gunshot wounds. He was pronounced dead at the scene.

    Surveillance video showed the suspects in a red pickup truck that was later found burned in a field in Robinsonville, Miss. The truck belonged to a relative of Smith’s.

    The case is being handled by Asst. Dist. Attys. Jimmy Thomas and Will Cranford.  

Man Pleads in 2016 Parkway Village Homicide

Dec. 3, 2021 – A Mississippi man pled guilty Friday in the 2016 killing of a 29-year-old man whose body was found face down at an intersection in the Parkway Village area of southeast Memphis, said Shelby County Dist. Atty. Gen. Amy Weirich.

   Criminal Court defendant Jonathan L. Smith, 27, of Olive Branch, entered guilty pleas to second-degree murder and attempted aggravated robbery. He was sentenced to 30 years in prison.

   Investigators said Smith was one of several men in a pickup truck who approached Bertram Thompson around 2:45 a.m. on Feb. 4, 2016, near Outland Road and Cromwell Avenue.

   A short time later passing motorists found Thompson face down in the intersection with multiple gunshot wounds. He was pronounced dead at the scene.

    Surveillance video showed the suspects in a red pickup truck that was later found burned in a field in Robinsonville, Miss. The truck belonged to a relative of Smith’s.

   Three codefendants charged in the homicide are scheduled to be in court next week.

   The case is being handled by Asst. Dist. Attys. Jimmy Thomas and Will Cranford.  

Businessman Indicted in Shooting of Shoplifter

     Dec. 3, 2021 – A Memphis businessman who shot a chainsaw shoplifter after chasing him out of the store has been indicted on first-degree murder charges, said Shelby County Dist. Atty. Gen. Amy Weirich.

    A grand jury also indicted Charles Kalb on the felony count of possession of a prohibited weapon, a sawed-off shotgun. He is free on $1 million bond.

   The incident occurred around 1:30 p.m. on Oct. 16, 2019, at Mid-South Small Engines in the 2600 block of Mt. Moriah in Fox Meadows when Kalb, 59, saw a man pick up a chainsaw and run out of the store.

   Surveillance video showed Kalb grab a shotgun from under the counter, run after the suspect, and shoot him in the back outside the store. The suspect, Lamorris Robinson, 33, was taken to a hospital where he was pronounced dead a short time later.

    The case is being handled by Chief Prosecutor Carla Taylor of the District Attorney’s Vertical Team 6 which prosecutes cases in General Sessions Division 15 and in Criminal Court Division 10.

Ex-Boyfriend Convicted in Woman’s Murder

Dec. 2, 2021 – A jury Thursday convicted a Parkway Village man in a 2015 domestic violence incident in which he shot his way into an apartment, killed his former girlfriend, and threatened another woman and her four young children, said Shelby County Dist. Atty. Gen. Amy Weirich.

    The Criminal Court jury convicted Antonio R. Davis, 33, of first-degree murder, aggravated assault, aggravated robbery, and aggravated burglary. He will receive an automatic life sentence for the murder and will be sentenced in January on the other two offenses by Judge Glenn Wright.

    Witnesses said that on Dec. 29, 2015, Davis showed up at a Hickory Ridge-area apartment where his former girlfriend, Lakeyel Hurd, 26, was staying temporarily with a friend.  

    Davis forced his way into the apartment after shooting through a sliding glass door, striking Hurd in the abdomen. As her friend was tending to her injury, Davis stood over both women and threatened to shoot Hurd’s friend if she did not tell him who Hurd had been seeing.

   Davis then shot Hurd several more times, including three times in the head, killing her. When the friend ran to a bedroom to protect her four children, Davis followed and pointed his gun at her and her one-year-old child she was holding.

   Davis took the woman’s cell phone as he left so she could not call police. He was arrested two weeks later by federal marshals who had tracked him to a motel in Goodlettsville just north of Nashville.

   The trial was handled by Asst. Dist. Attys. Jeff Jones and Austin Scofield.

   Jones is assigned to the District Attorney’s Special Prosecution Unit 8 which seeks maximum sentencing for repeat felony offenders.

   Scofield is a member of the District Attorney’s Crime Strategies & Narcotics Prosecution Unit which handles violent crime and drug trafficking cases. 

Gang Member Convicted in Random Killing

Dec. 2, 2021 – A 21-year-old man was convicted Wednesday in the unprovoked shooting death of a pedestrian who was crossing Mt. Moriah at Quince Road in the summer of 2019, said Shelby County Dist. Atty. Gen. Amy Weirich.

    A Criminal Court jury convicted Demarcus Z. Wooten of first-degree murder, attempted first-degree murder, and employment of a firearm in the commission of a dangerous felony.

    The murder case carries an automatic sentence of life in prison. Wooten will be sentenced on the other offenses in February by Judge W. Mark Ward.

    According to testimony, Wooten was in the back rear seat of a car with several other people in the early-morning hours of June 12, 2019, when he shot at another motorist at Mt. Moriah and Willow Road.

    The shot hit the car’s rear driver’s side door and shattered the window. The driver was not injured.

    Minutes later, at around 2:30 a.m., the northbound car in which Wooten was riding stopped for a red light on Mt. Moriah at Quince. Witnesses said that for no apparent reason Wooten shot 49-year-old Willie C. Gandy in the back as he crossed the street in the crosswalk in front of the car.

    Witnesses said the car’s driver continued on Mt. Moriah, but that Wooten told the driver to make a U-turn and that as they passed the shooting scene Wooten laughed and said “Look at his body.”

     When a witness texted him later asking about the shooting, Wooten, a gang member whose nickname is Hot Head, replied “He dead” in a return text with a smiling emoji.

   The trial was handled by Chief Prosecutor Paul Hagerman and Asst. Dist. Atty. Doug Carriker of the District Attorney’s Crime Strategies & Narcotics Prosecution Unit (CSNPU) that prosecutes cases in General Sessions Division 8 (Drug Court) and in Criminal Court Division 6.

   The unit handles cases involving gang members and violent crimes, including homicides, aggravated robberies, kidnappings, rapes and narcotics trafficking.

Man Indicted in Shooting Death of Tool Thief

Dec. 2, 2021 – A Memphis man has been indicted on second-degree murder charges in the shooting this summer of a man he said was stealing tools from his parked truck on Summer Avenue, said Shelby County Dist. Atty. Gen. Amy Weirich.

    The grand jury indicted 51-year-old Bobby Freeze on the felony count. He is free on $50,000 bond.

   The incident occurred shortly before 8 a.m. on May 17 this year in the 4800 block of Summer where Freeze ran out of a breakfast shop when he saw someone stealing tools from his truck.

    He told police he ran into the parking lot, shouted at the man to stop and then fired two shots as the man was driving away. The driver, Tommie Carpenter, 47, was struck in the back of the head and died three days later.

Raleigh Man Convicted of Killing Rival

Dec. 2, 2021 – A Raleigh man was convicted Wednesday in the 2017 death of a 34-year-old acquaintance who was found unresponsive in the driver’s seat of his parked car with multiple gunshot wounds, said Shelby County Dist. Atty. Gen. Amy Weirich.

   A Criminal Court jury convicted Darius Lamon Mack of first-degree murder and tampering with evidence. The murder conviction carries an automatic sentence of life in prison. He will be sentenced on the tampering offense in January by Judge John Campbell.

   The shooting occurred around 2:30 a.m. on Oct. 4, 2017, outside of a rooming house in the 3300 block of Keystone Ave. where Mack and victim Tyreece Fosset, 34, both had rooms.

   A residential security camera showed a man walk up to Fosset’s vehicle and fire a gun several times into the car, striking him several times in the head and neck. The shooter fled on foot, but later returned to retrieve shell casings from the scene.

   Mack was developed as a suspect and was arrested two weeks later asleep in his car outside a residence on Quinn in South Memphis.   

   The case was handled by Asst. Dist. Attys. Joey Griffith and Katie Farley.

Motorist Indicted on Attempted Murder of Officer

     Dec. 1, 2021 – A Mississippi man was indicted Tuesday on criminal charges for allegedly shooting at a police officer who was trying to arrest him this summer for driving recklessly in the Hickory Ridge area, said Shelby County Dist. Atty. Gen. Amy Weirich.

    The grand jury indicted 23-year-old Elliott Griham (aka Girham) of Olive Branch on felony counts of attempted first-degree murder, employment of a firearm in the commission of a dangerous felony, resisting official detention, and reckless driving. He is being held in the Shelby County Jail. 

    The incident began around 1 p.m. when an MPD sergeant from Ridgeway Station noticed a black Dodge Charger being driven recklessly on Knight Arnold at Ridgeway, heading into oncoming traffic and almost causing an accident.

    The officer, who was on duty in an unmarked police car, followed the driver to an apartment on West Village Grove off of Ridgeway where he tried to arrest Griham, the driver. Griham struggled with the officer, broke away, and grabbed an AR-style rifle from the Charger.

    The driver fired several shots at the police sergeant, striking his car but not the officer. As the officer called for assistance, Griham drove off, refusing to stop as he was pursued by patrol cars with blue lights flashing.

    Griham was developed as a suspect, was identified in a photospread and was arrested two days later at a residence in Cordova.

    The case is being handled by Asst. Dist. Atty. J. D. Hamblen of the District Attorney’s Vertical Team 5 which prosecutes cases in General Sessions 13 and in Criminal Court Division 9.  

West Memphis Woman Indicted in Shooting

Dec. 1, 2021 – An Arkansas woman has been indicted in a fatal shooting this summer on South Lauderdale that stemmed from an online dispute between her sister and a 13-year-old girl whose grandmother was the victim, said Shelby County Dist. Atty. Gen. Amy Weirich.

    A grand jury indicted Shakenya Iman Poney, 24, of West Memphis on one count of second-degree murder and three counts of attempted second-degree murder. She is free on $350,000 bond.

   The incident occurred around 1 a.m. on July 24 this year in the Cleaborn Pointe at Heritage Landing townhomes where witnesses said Poney drove up in a white vehicle and confronted a group of women.

    Witnesses said Poney fired several times, striking 64-year-old Clara Wismon in the chest and killing her. Poney fired at three others as well, including the victim’s 13-year-old granddaughter, before getting into her car and driving away.

    Poney was charged and arrested two days later.

    The case is being handled by Felony Asst. Ryan Thompson of the District Attorney’s Vertical Team 5 which prosecutes cases in General Sessions Division 13 and in Criminal Court Division 9.

Man Indicted in Fatal Driveway Shooting

Nov. 29, 2021 – A 22-year-old man has been indicted on second-degree murder for the death of a Raleigh-area man who was shot while taking out the trash, said Shelby County Dist. Atty. Gen. Amy Weirich.

    Defendant Metavious Bishop is being held on $250,000 bond.

    The shooting occurred around 8:15 p.m. on July 8 this year in the driveway of a residence in the 5200 block of Yellowood Cove near Covington Pike and Stage Road.

    Witnesses inside the home said they heard two shots outside after 24-year-old Ray C. Taylor had taken out the trash. They identified Bishop as the man with a gun standing over Taylor’s body. Taylor was pronounced dead at the scene.

     Bishop’s girlfriend said he had called her earlier and said he would be coming by the house on Yellowood. She said she was inside the house when the shooting occurred, but identified Bishop’s phone and his brand of cigars that were left on top of her car which was by the victim’s body.

    After obtaining a consent to search her cell phone, investigators viewed an unopened Snapchat on which Bishop described a previous incident in which the victim removed his shirt and came after him and possibly some others.

     Bishop was taken into custody six days later.

Cold Case Investigators File Murder Charges

  Nov. 24, 2021 – A 19-year-old man who is serving a seven-year prison sentence for aggravated robbery now has been charged in a 2017 home-invasion homicide that occurred when he was 15 years old, said Shelby County Dist. Atty. Gen. Amy Weirich.

    Detectives with the MPD Homicide Cold Case Unit charged Dallas Perkins with first-degree murder in the death of 68-year-old Robert Wong who was found shot to death on Nov. 23, 2017, at his home in the 4100 block of Cochese Drive in Parkway Village.

    Wong, who was being treated for cancer, was found unresponsive near the living room with a gunshot wound to the left shoulder. The side doors were unlocked, keys were missing, and the family Honda Odyssey van was gone.

    In 2019 Perkins pled guilty in the holdup of a pizza delivery driver that occurred on Oct. 28, 2018, in the 6300 block of Hunters Place in Cordova. Perkins and two other men took the driver’s white Dodge Charger, $20 and two pizzas.

    The following day, a Cordova woman reported the burglary of her home where a white Dodge Charger used. Perkins was arrested later after police spotted him and another teen getting into the vehicle in a Parkway Village neighborhood.

     Perkins pled guilty in the two incidents to aggravated robbery, aggravated burglary, theft of property over $1,000, and intentionally evading arrest in an automobile. He was sentenced to 7.2 years which he is serving at Riverbend Maximum Security Institution in Nashville.

    New evidence and witness interviews now have led cold-case detectives to Perkins involvement in the murder of Robert Wong.

    Since Perkins was 15 at the time of the murder, his initial proceedings will be in Juvenile Court.

    The case is being handled by Chief Prosecutor Paul Hagerman of the District Attorney’s Crime Strategies & Narcotics Prosecution Unit (CSNPU) which prosecuted cases in General Sessions Division 8 and in Criminal Court Division 6.

    CSNPU cases involve gang members and violent crimes, including homicides, aggravated robberies, aggravated assaults, kidnappings, rapes, and narcotics trafficking.

Domestic Shooting Leads to Indictment

Nov. 24, 2021 – A 28-year-old woman was indicted Tuesday in the shooting death earlier this year of a Parkway Village woman with whom she had argued on social media, said Shelby County Dist. Atty. Gen. Amy Weirich.

    The grand jury indicted Jasmine Mathes, 28, on counts of second-degree murder, two counts of attempted second-degree murder, and employment of a firearm in the commission of a dangerous felony.

    She is being held on $500,000 bond.

    The incident occurred around 7 p.m. on Feb. 1 this year outside the home of victim Jamaya Auguster, 23, in the 3900 block of Watson St.  Investigators said Mathes drove up to the residence where Auguster was in another vehicle with two other women.

     One of those women said Mathes was her ex-girlfriend, prompting Auguster to get out the car and approach Mathes, who began firing a handgun. Auguster was struck in the shoulder and the neck, and died a short time later at a hospital.

    Mathes also fired shots at the women in the other vehicle as she drove away.

    She was charged and arrested two days later.

    The case is being handled by Asst. Dist. Atty. Michael Haas of the District Attorney’s Domestic Violence Unit which prosecutes cases involving domestic assault and homicide committed by intimate partners.

Nuisance Order Hits Peppertree Apartments

     Nov. 23, 2021 – A public nuisance petition has been granted which bans any new leases at the Peppertree Apartments in Whitehaven where police have responded to more than 1,500 calls for service over the past 20 months, said Shelby County Dist. Atty. Gen. Amy Weirich.

    A temporary injunction halts any new business at the long-troubled complex, and its owners, TESCO Properties, Inc., of Germantown, now must tell a court why the injunction should not be made permanent.

    The announcement was made Tuesday at a news conference that included DA Weirich, Memphis Mayor Jim Strickland, and Memphis Police Chief C.J. Davis.

    A hearing is set for 9 a.m. Monday Nov. 29 before General Sessions 14/Environmental Court Judge Patrick Dandridge.   

    According to the petition, the Peppertree property is the site of active drug trafficking and numerous crimes of violence involving tenants and non-tenants, creating “a dangerous and violent atmosphere that poses a clear danger to the tenants and surrounding community at large.”

     The apartments at 4243 Graceland Drive are across the street from Whitehaven Park and Hillcrest High School, and are less than a half-mile from Creative Scholars Academy.

     The federally subsidized Peppertree property was built in 1972 and has 306 living units with approximately 1,000 residents. More than 90 percent of the listed tenants are women and children.

     In a 2006 nuisance action against the Peppertree, the court ordered safety measures such as decals for vehicles lawfully on the property, towing of unauthorized vehicles, an electronic gate system, improved lighting, and security guards.

    In addition, Peppertree entered the Safeways program, a collaborative effort of law enforcement and property managers. Peppertree, however, no longer is a part of the program, apparently due to a failure to pay dues.

    The new petition follows an investigation by the Memphis Police Department and the Multi-Agency Gang Unit showing that between March 1, 2020, and Oct. 31, 2021, police responded to 1,649 calls for service at Peppertree.

    Those calls included 120 for shootings, 216 involving guns, 40 for fights, 20 involving large gatherings of people, eight for drugs, eight for gambling, and six for robberies.

      Also at the Peppertree property, MPD has documented 15 people shot, including two homicides; 53 aggravated assaults; and 25 felony weapons offenses. A fire that damaged or destroyed 10 units in September was ruled arson.

    Over the past six years, an MPD officer who lives nearby has called more than 100 times to report shots fired at the complex.

    Police said one resident described the property as “a war zone,” another reported bullets piercing his car windshield and head rest, and a resident of a nearby senior living facility said residents often sleep on the floor to avoid being hit by stray bullets.

    The nuisance petition was filed by DA Weirich, Asst. Dist. Atty. Paul Hagerman, and Asst. City Atty. Will Gibbons.

Caregiver Convicted of Elder Abuse

Nov. 19, 2021 – A professional caregiver was convicted Thursday on felony neglect charges involving an elderly disabled Bartlett woman who sustained critical injuries in a fall that occurred when she was left alone by the caregiver who left her shift early, said Shelby County Dist. Atty. Gen. Amy Weirich.

     The Criminal Court jury convicted Patricia Chambers, 54, on two counts each of aggravated neglect of an elderly or vulnerable adult and aggravated abuse of an elderly or vulnerable adult.

    She is scheduled to be sentenced Dec. 13 by Judge W. Mark Ward.

    Chambers worked for Right at Home Staffing Services as a caregiver for the 80-year-old woman who suffered from severe Parkinson’s, could not feed or care for herself, and required 24-hour assistance.

    On April 18, 2019, Chambers was scheduled to care for the woman until midnight at the Robinwood Assisted Living Facility on Kirby Whitten Parkway in Bartlett.

    When the relief caregiver arrived at midnight, however, she found the elderly woman on the floor in a fetal position. Chambers was not there.

   The woman was hospitalized with severe pain and was unable to ever swallow or eat again, requiring a permanent feeding tube.

   She died less than a year later.

   Chambers told investigators the woman was sleeping, so she thought it was safe to leave and clock out on her phone at 11:58 pm. An examination of her cell phone records, however, showed that she was more than 20 miles away in the Whitehaven area at 11:58 p.m.

   The case was handled by Senior Felony Asst. Danielle McCollum and Asst. Dist. Atty. Tanisha Johnson.

Emmett Hall to Give Retirement a Try

     Nov. 3, 2021 – After some 30 years as an Assistant District Attorney, Emmett Hall has decided it’s time to retire.

     He claims to be “frightened by the whole prospect,” although he has four young grandchildren he looks forward to visiting more often in Charlotte, N.C., and lots of books to read that don’t have footnotes or legal citations.

    “I’ve already turned my alarm off,” Emmett said. “It was always set for 5:30, but now I’ll probably sleep until 6:30.”

    Emmett opines that he got his job in the DA’s Office the old-fashioned way: “I knew somebody.”

   Dist. Atty. Gen. Hugh Stanton, a longtime family friend, first hired him in the mid-1980s, but after five years Emmett decided to try criminal defense work with a private practice. After a few years, however, he returned to the DA’s Office, this time hired by Dist. Atty. Gen. John Pierotti.

   Emmett had the rare distinction of working in General Sessions courts throughout his career at 201 Poplar. He admired and learned from colleagues including Jim Hall (no relation), Louis Montesi, Mike Boyle and Billy Bond.

   “I learned how to deal with members of the defense bar, and that you don’t yell at people, but rather coax and cajole,” he said. “I also learned from them how to evaluate a case and what factors to consider.

   “I’ve worked with some extraordinary people, most of whom are still roaming around this office.”

   Asked what advice he might have for your prosecutors, Emmet said that preparation is the single most important thing.

   “If you make yourself better informed about a case than anyone else is,” he said, “it just makes everything go a lot easier.”

      Dist. Atty. Gen. Amy Weirich has known and worked with Emmett for three decades. 

   “Emmett Hall leaves behind a long list of prosecutors (and defense attorneys) that he has molded into great attorneys,” Gen. Weirich said. “His contributions to this office, to the justice system and to the public will last well into the future.”

    A law career was not Emmett’s original life plan. Medicine was. He worked during college as a scrub assistant in the operating rooms at Methodist Hospital, but courses such as organic chemistry and calculus convinced him to try something else.

   “So I decided if I couldn’t join the medical community, I’d lick them,” he said with a laugh. “I planned to go into medical malpractice, either for the defense or the plaintiff.”

   That path did not materialize, and that’s fine with him.

    “What I like and will miss about being a prosecutor is the opportunity to be of service to the community and the people I work with,” Emmett said. “You will hear that from virtually every prosecutor at their retirement. And it’s true.”

DA Weirich Files Petition To Remove Payne Death Penalty

From Shelby County Dist. Atty. Gen. Amy Weirich: On Saturday afternoon June 27, 1987, a 20-year-old man named Pervis Payne attacked a mother and her two young children in their Millington apartment. Proof would show that Payne killed 28-year-old Charisse Christopher, who had more than 80 knife wounds, and her 2-year-old daughter Lacie, who also was stabbed to death.

   Payne’s ball cap was found intertwined on baby Lacie’s arm. Three-year-old Nicholas Christopher survived his numerous stab wounds after undergoing multiple surgeries.

    Residents who heard the commotion called police. An officer who was in the area responded within minutes and confronted Payne as he ran down the stairs at the apartment. The officer recalled that Payne “looked like he was sweating blood.” Payne pushed the officer and ran away, but was captured a short time later hiding in an attic.

   A year later, a Criminal Court jury convicted Payne on two counts of first-degree murder and one count of assault to commit first-degree murder. The jury sentenced Payne to death for each murder. He also received 30 years in prison for the assault.

   The jury rejected Payne’s testimony that he was covered with blood that day because he was trying to help the victims. He testified had his hand on the murder weapon-knife because he was trying to remove it from Charisse Christopher’s throat.

   For 34 years the conviction and death sentences have been reviewed by state and federal appeals courts multiple times. The Tennessee Supreme Court called Payne’s self-serving testimony “unbelievable and contrary to human conduct and experience.” The U.S. Supreme Court called the evidence against Payne “overwhelming and relatively uncontroverted.”

    DNA tests and arguments by the defense have failed to exonerate him.

    While the evidence of Payne’s guilt has never changed or weakened, the laws regarding alleged intellectual disability as it relates to the death penalty have changed. His IQ at the time of his 1988 trial was measured at 78.

   Currently pending before the Criminal Court is Payne’s defense argument that he is intellectually disabled, and thus under the law cannot be executed.

 A state expert examined Payne and available records, and could not say Payne’s intellectual functioning is outside the range for intellectual disability.

     We received this information last week, thoroughly reviewed the findings, and we met with the victims’ family this week to explain the current reality with which we are now faced. The family was not happy, but they understand.

   We can’t change the facts and we can’t change the law.

   So today, after weighing the totality of circumstances, we have filed notice with the Criminal Court that the state is hereby withdrawing its request for a hearing on the issue of intellectual disability.

  This means that the death penalty for Pervis Payne will be removed and replaced with two consecutive sentences of life in prison for the murders of Charisse and Lacie Christopher.

Shopper Convicted in Jewelry Store Heist

Nov. 18, 2021 – A 59-year-old man who was chased down by a security officer after he and another suspect stole a diamond ring from a jewelry store in 2019 was convicted Wednesday of felony theft and other criminal charges, said Shelby County Dist. Atty. Gen. Amy Weirich.

   The Criminal Court jury convicted Lamont Cummings of theft of property over $2,500, evading arrest, resisting official detention, and criminal impersonation.

   Cummings told police he was Terrell Hack, age 40, but an FBI fingerprint database revealed his true identity in addition to several other aliases, dates of birth, and warrants. He is a native of Philadelphia believed to be responsible for similar heists in other parts of the country.

   Investigators said Cummings and an unidentified accomplice entered the Robert Irwin Jewelry Store in the Wolfchase Galleria around 4:30 p.m. on Aug. 11, 2019. While Cummings was discussing the purchase of a wedding ring with a store employee, his accomplice reached over the counter and grabbed a lady’s gold-and-diamond ring. The two men then fled.

    An off-duty police officer chased them to a getaway car in the parking lot and apprehended Cummings. The unidentified accomplice escaped with the ring.

    Cummings will be sentenced on Dec. 14 by Judge Bobby Carter.

    The case was handled by Asst. Dist. Atty. Forrest Edwards of the District Attorney’s Vertical Team 3 which prosecutes cases in General Sessions Division 11 and in Criminal Court Division 3.

Driver Convicted in Four-Vehicle DUI Crash

Nov. 18, 2021 – A motorist who admitted drinking on his birthday was convicted Wednesday on 11 criminal charges stemming from a four-vehicle accident in 2018 that critically injured one of his two sons in the backseat of his car, said Shelby County Dist. Atty. Gen. Amy Weirich.

     A Criminal Court jury convicted 37-year-old Derrick Lynn Harris on two counts each of vehicular assault, reckless endangerment with a deadly weapon, and DUI; four counts of DUI-child endangerment, and reckless driving.

    Harris will be sentenced in January. 

    The crash occurred around 10:30 p.m. on July 7, 2018, when Harris was driving at a high rate of speed southbound on Raleigh-Millington Road near King’s Glen Drive in North Memphis.

     Investigators said Harris’s vehicle rear-ended another vehicle, causing a chain reaction that damaged two more cars. His 9-year-old son was hospitalized with critical injuries, while his 11-year-old son was hospitalized as non-critical. Neither child was properly restrained, investigators said.

    Harris did poorly on a field-sobriety test and his blood-alcohol was .211. He told one officer, “Yeah, I been drinking. It’s my birthday.”

     Jurors deliberated 40 minutes before returning their verdicts.

    The case was handled by Asst. Dist. Atty. Vanessa Murtaugh of the District Attorney’s DUI Unit which works with law enforcement to reduce the number of DUI-related fatalities and injuries in Shelby County.

Man Convicted in 2011 Home Invasion Attack

Nov. 15, 2021 – A North Memphis man has been convicted on 22 felony counts, including rape and robbery, stemming from a 2011 home-invasion attack on six people in a Berclair-area residence, said Shelby County Dist. Atty. Gen. Amy Weirich.

    A Criminal Court jury, which returned its verdict shortly after 11 p.m. Saturday, convicted Giorgio Lakeith Jennings on six counts of aggravated rape, five counts of aggravated robbery, three counts of aggravated assault, three counts of facilitation aggravated assault, three counts of aggravated kidnapping, one count of aggravated burglary, and one count of employment of a firearm in the commission of a dangerous felony.

     Jennings, 33, remains in custody and will be sentenced by Judge Chris Craft on Jan. 7, 2022. He faces more than 100 years in prison.

    The incident occurred on Jan. 17, 2011, in a home in the 4300 block of Owen Road in northeast Memphis when Jennings and two unidentified men armed with guns forced their way inside.

    Three women, ages 21 to 25, were sexually assaulted; two male victims, ages 21 and 26, were shot in their right hands; and a 25-year-old man was pistol whipped in the attack.

    The assailants stole items that included two video-game systems, various knives, a bow, a spear, and several medieval-type swords.

     Jennings was identified as a suspect by DNA and by some of the stolen property which was found in the bedroom of his home. An arrest warrant was issued for him in 2014. Jennings was arrested three years later in St. Louis where he was in jail on another crime.

     Jennings also has a sexual assault case pending in Las Vegas.

     The case here was handled by Asst. Dist. Attys. Abby Wallace and Leslie Byrd of the District Attorney’s Special Prosecution Unit 8 which seeks maximum sentencing for repeat felony offenders.   

Memphis Caregiver Indicted in Vulnerable Adult Abuse Case

MEMPHIS – An investigation by special agents with the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation’s Medicaid Fraud Control Division has resulted in the arrest of a Memphis woman on a charge of abusing a vulnerable adult in her care.

TBI began its investigation into Tiaranee Phillips (DOB: 7/30/93) of Memphis, in August, after receiving information from the Tennessee Department of Human Services Adult Protective Services and the Department of Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities.  During the investigation, agents determined Phillips, while working as a caregiver, assaulted a physically disabled, vulnerable adult at a residence in the 3000 block of Darrow Road in Memphis.

On November 9th, the Shelby County Grand Jury returned an indictment, charging Phillips with one count of Abuse of a Vulnerable Adult.  Thursday, Phillips surrendered to the Shelby County Jail East Women’s Facility, where she is being held on $25,000 bond.  Phillips is no longer employed as a caregiver.

Note: The TBI’s Medicaid Fraud Control Division received 75 percent of its funding from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services under a grant award totaling $6,879,772.50 for federal Fiscal Year 2022. The remaining 25 percent, totaling $2,293,257.00 for Fiscal Year 2021-2022, is funded by the State of Tennessee.

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