Crime of the Week #20

June 18, 2021

HOMICIDE

Two teenagers were sitting in an parked car in the 3800 block of Masterson Street east of T.O. Fuller State Park in south Memphis on Sunday, May 2, 2021. It was about 6:10 p.m. when a black four-door sedan approached and shots were fired. Both 15-year-old boys were struck.

Memphis Police officers responding to a report of shots fired arrived from the Raines Station and located the teens. One — Ja’Kobe White — was pronounced dead at the scene. The second boy was injured. A witness told police two adult black males did the shooting. A nearby surveillance video captured frames of the suspects’ vehicle.

Anyone with information pertaining to this ongoing murder investigation is asked to come forward by contacting CrimeStoppers at 528-CASH (2274).

Crime of the Week #19

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June 4, 2021

HOMICIDE

A Cold Case
It was 10:39 at night on Friday, June 7, 2019 when officers from the Memphis Police Department’s Tillman Station responded to a call about a shooting in the 100 block of East Parkway North.

A shooting victim, Glen Cofield, and his wife had parked their silver Lexus SUV on a church parking lot near Poplar Avenue earlier that evening. They walked to a party at a nearby house. When the couple walked back to their vehicle later she entered on the driver’s side and her husband walked to the passenger side of the car.

At this point he was confronted by an unknown male wearing a dark-colored hoodie. The victim’s wife heard an argument and then a shot. Cofield fell to the ground. Two dark-colored vehicles immediately exited the parking lot and headed east on Poplar.

One vehicle may have been red. Cofield’s wife got out of the car and went to her husband who had suffered a gunshot wound to his chest. He was pronounced dead on the scene.

This is an ongoing investigation. Detectives need someone with knowledge about this homicide to step forward. Anyone with information can contact CrimeStoppers at 528-CASH (2274) and become eligible for an award.

Crime of the Week #18

June 4, 2021

HOMICIDE

Gunshots were heard by residents of an apartment building in the 5900 block of Hickory Meadow Lane, near Hickory Hill Road in southeast Memphis, about 10 p.m. Sunday, April 11, 2021.

Calls were made to the Memphis Police at Ridgeway Station and officers were quickly dispatched. At the scene minutes later they found a gunshot victim lying just inside his apartment.

Darian Coburn was dead. Witnesses who heard the shots say they saw a red car speeding away moments later.

More information is needed by detectives in this ongoing investigation. Anyone with information is asked to contact CrimeStoppers at 528-CASH (2274).

Crime of the Week #17

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May 21, 2021

HOMICIDE

A Cold Case
U.S. Army Sgt. Calvin Wilhite Jr. was walking on South Fourth Street the night of Sunday, May 24, 2015 after a visit to the Historic Beale Street District with his fiance. They had just passed the FedEx Forum when he became involved in an argument with two males in a vehicle that pulled up beside them.

To avoid a continued confrontation, the couple crossed the street, but the vehicle’s driver urged Wilhite back into the street. When he stepped toward the car a passenger in the vehicle opened fire. The vehicle fled the scene, headed southbound on S. Fourth. and across Dr. Martin Luther King Blvd.

Wilhite was taken to Regional One hospital where he later died of his injuries. The Shelby County Medical Examiner ruled the death a homicide. The driver was described as a black male, about 22 to 25 years old, of light complexion with hazel eyes and a high fade haircut with curls on top. The passenger who fired was described as a black male, with the same age range, medium to dark complexion, a chubby face and a fade hair style. The vehicle was described as a greenish gray color 4-door Chrysler Sebring.

Special award money has been raised in this case so that a total of $20,000 award is possible to anyone with information that helps lead to an arrest. Anyone with information should contact CrimeStoppers by call or text to 528-CASH (2274).

Crime of the Week #16

May 21, 2021

HOMICIDE

It was just short of midnight Sunday, June 21, 2020 when Memphis Police officers from the Raines Station answered a shooting report in the vicinity of West Mitchell and West Horn Lake roads in Whitehaven. The officers already had been checking the area about an accident report when a second call reported a vehicle had struck a home in the 1300 block of West Horn Lake.

They arrived to find an unresponsive man in the driver’s seat of a 2000 Mercury Grand Marquis. The victim, identified as Lazarus Johnson, was pronounced dead at the scene. He had been shot.

Anyone with information on this homicide is urged to contact CrimeStoppers by call or text, 528-CASH (2274).

Crime of the Week #15

May 14, 2021

HOMICIDE

A Cold Case
The body of Nancy R. Little was found in her car on Slate Road at the intersection with Hornsby Drive in Whitehaven at 6:10 p.m. Monday, October 9, 1989. That was 32 years ago. She was 32 years old.

Her car was a white four-door 1988 Honda Accord. Her death was due to asphyxiation. The medical examiner said she was forced into a position in which she couldn’t breathe.

Little was nine months pregnant and her unborn child also was killed.

Anyone with information on this double homicide is asked to contact CrimeStoppers by call or text at 528-CASH (2274).

Crime of the Week #14

April 30, 2021

HOMICIDE

A shooting report brought North Main station officers to Peabody Place at Main Street in downtown Memphis at 9:48 p.m. Saturday, April 17, 2021. There officers found Dylan Lovell, who was suffering from a gunshot wound. Lovell was transported to Regional One hospital where he later died.

Officers learned that Lovell was riding eastbound on Beale Street near Main in a 1987 red Chevrolet Monte Carlo in heavy traffic. A suspect wearing a white hoody, light blue slacks and face mask approached the passenger side of the vehicle on foot and yelled, “Drop it off.”

As the car tried to drive away around other cars, the suspect fired a gun into the car, hitting Lovell. The suspect fled the scene. The investigation continues. Detectives hope these photos will help someone recognize the shooter.

Contact CrimeStoppers by calling or texting 528-CASH (2274).

Crime of the Week #13

April 23, 2021

HOMICIDE

The report of a shooting sent Memphis Police officers from the Crump Station to 840 South Parkway East, in the Soulsville area, at 6:22 p.m. Saturday, April 11, 2021.

At the scene they found 15-year-old Jarvis Triplett in the street. Nearby was an All Terrain Vehicle. Jarvis had been shot several times and was pronounced dead at the scene.

Officers learned that he had been a passenger on the ATV, heading down Mississippi Blvd. and at S. Parkway E. the vehicle cut across a parking lot at the intersection. At that point occupants of a white sedan fired multiple shot at the ATV.

The white sedan fled westbound on the parkway. Authorities need helping identifying the sedan and its occupants. Anyone with information is asked to contact CrimeStoppers anonymously at 528-CASH (2274).

Crime of the Week #12

April 16, 2021

HOMICIDE

It was a year ago when Memphis Police officers from the Mt. Moriah station were dispatched to the scene of a reported body found in a car in the 1700 block of Titus Road near E. Mallory Avenue. The call came at 1:45 p.m. Monday, April 13, 2020.

Officers arrived to find Tony Wallace inside his blue Chevrolet Camaro. He was unresponsive and had a gunshot wound. Memphis Fire Department paramedics pronounced Wallace dead.

The scene revealed the victim had been shot in his car several days before he was found. This is an ongoing investigation.

This case has an extra award. Anyone with information that helps bring about an arrest in the case is eligible for a $2,500 cash award. Contact CrimeStoppers, 528-CASH (2274) anonymously with information on this murder.

Crime of the Week #11

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April 9, 2021

HOMICIDE

A Cold Case
Vallen R. Conner was sitting in her parked vehicle and talking to a friend outside the friend’s house in the 2700 block of Fizer Road, just east of Lamar Avenue, on a warm Tuesday evening. It was 11 p.m., May 22, 2018.

The friend had noticed a light brown or tan SUV, possibly a Chevrolet Trailblazer, parked several houses away. The vehicle then left the curb and drove past Conner’s car. One or two people in the vehicle started firing shots. Vallen Conner was shot in the shoulder. Her friend was hit in the foot. Conner died from her gunshot injury at 11:15 p.m. The friend was transported to Regional One hospital where he was treated and released.

Investigators need help solving this homicide. Anyone with information — even the smallest detail — is asked to call or text CrimeStoppers at 528-CASH (2274).