Special to the Express
The Shelby County District Attorney’s Office has released updates on a plea deal, convictions and indictments.
Convicted killer of U of M student accepts offer of life without parole
The 2002 death sentence of a Mississippi man convicted of abducting and murdering a University of Memphis graduate student was changed Monday to life in prison without the possibility of parole, according to Shelby County District Attorney General Amy Weirich.
The family of 24-year-old victim Hillary Johnson approved the change rather than relive the case in a new sentencing hearing to which defendant Leonard Jasper “Sonny” Young was entitled because his defense attorneys did not adequately represent him in the sentencing phase of his trial.
Young, now 74, agreed to the new sentence rather than a new hearing in which he would again face punishment of death, life without parole or life. His 72-year sentence for especially aggravated kidnapping and theft of property in the case will not change.
D.A. Weirich told Criminal Court Judge Paula Skahan Monday that the only reason the state agreed to the change of sentence was to honor the wishes of the victim’s family.
Young carjacked Hillary Johnson on Nov. 20, 1999, near her Midtown apartment at McLean and Linden. He stabbed her to death and hid her body in a remote wooded area off U.S. 64 near the Shelby/Fayette County line.
Young was arrested nine days later near Middleton in Hardeman County, and eventually confessed to the crime and led authorities to the student’s body.
A jury convicted Young and sentenced him to death in 2002. The conviction was upheld on appeal, but the death sentence was vacated because his defense lawyers were found to be ineffective in the sentencing phase of the two-part trial. The defense put on no proof in either the guilt phase or the penalty phase.
Young, who had 13 prior felony convictions, will be taken off Tennessee’s death row at Riverbend Maximum Security Institution in Nashville and moved to general population status. He was represented Monday by attorney Joseph Ozment.
Gunman convicted in north Memphis murder case
A man accused of firing an assault rifle at two acquaintances seated in a car in North Memphis has been convicted of first-degree murder and attempted first-degree murder, Weirich said.
Both victims were struck more than 10 times, though one man survived.
On Friday, a Criminal Court jury convicted 26-year-old defendant Marcel Holbrook, who will receive an automatic life sentence for the murder and up to 25 years in prison for attempted murder. He will be sentenced next month by Judge James Lammey Jr.
The incident occurred around 4 p.m. Nov. 8, 2017, as Duncan Hardy, 54, and Anthony Edwards, 32, were sitting in a car in the 900 block of Alaska near Vollintine in north Memphis.
Witnesses said Holbrook pulled up in a black vehicle, stepped out and opened fire on the two men with an assault rifle. Hardy and Edwards both were hit by at least 10 shots, though Edwards was able to drive several blocks to his mother’s home.
Hardy was pronounced dead in the vehicle at that location, while Edwards’ mother drove him to a hospital in her car.
The shooting was the result of an ongoing dispute involving the defendant and a relative of one of the victims, investigators said.
Holbrook, who has pending drug and gun cases, also was convicted of employing a firearm in the commission of a dangerous felony.
The case was handled by Asst. Dist. Attys. Stephanie Johnson and Ryan Thompson.
Nuisance motel agrees to safety changes
A northeast Memphis motel closed last week as a public nuisance because of drug trafficking and other illegal activity by customers will be allowed to reopen after agreeing to make security improvements, Weirich announced Friday.
Owners of the Red Roof Inn at 6055 Shelby Oaks Drive agreed to employ a security guard seven days a week, install surveillance cameras that can be accessed by Memphis police, allow police access to all common areas at all times, keep detailed records regarding each room, and deny room rental to any person known to have engaged in nuisance activity at the motel.
The memorandum of understanding (MOU) also calls for posting signs on the property declaring that anyone on the premises who is not an owner, employee or legal occupant is trespassing and is subject to immediate arrest.
The owners — identified in court papers as Shree Shvi LLC and Girish Sinojia Jianping — also agreed to appear in General Sessions 14/Environmental Court monthly for the next three months for status reports. The MOU is not an acknowledgement of guilt or liability by the owners, but rather is an attempt to jointly resolve the litigation.
The motel was closed for new business on Sept. 27 after Judge Patrick Dandridge signed a nuisance petition/temporary injunction filed by Weirich and City Attorney Bruce McMullen.
The action was taken after a lengthy Memphis Police Organized Crime Unit investigation found in various rooms at the hotel multiple handguns, hypodermic needles and narcotics, including heroin, crystal methamphetamine, fentanyl, cocaine, marijuana and ecstasy.
Police said that between March of 2017 and August of 2019 the motel was the site of multiple heroin overdoses, including four that were fatal. During the past year police have responded to at least 150 calls regarding illegal activity at the motel.
The motel is less than a mile from Shelby Oaks Elementary School, Sycamore View Church of Christ and Bartlett Immanuel Lutheran. It also is approximately one mile from Southwest Tennessee Community College and from Memphis Memory Gardens.
The case is being handled by Assistant District Attorney Paul Hagerman and Assistant City Attorney Will Gibbons.
Under Tennessee law, the DA has authority to bring a civil actions against any establishment deemed a public nuisance where “unlawful sale of any regulated legend drug, narcotic or other controlled substance … quarrelling, drunkenness, fighting or breaches of the peace are carried on or permitted.”
Four teens indicted in murderous crime spree
Four teenagers have been indicted on first-degree murder and multiple other felonies stemming from a 12-day crime spree last November that also included carjackings, robberies and more than a half dozen victims, Weirich said Friday.
A grand jury indicted Djuantay Jacocks, 19, Jason Poole, 18, Mardavis Thomas, 17, and Jaylon Causey, 17, on first-degree murder charges in a carjacking in the Nutbush area of northeast Memphis during which a woman was shot and killed.
Jacocks and Thomas also face felony counts that include aggravated robberies, two thefts of property (motor vehicles) and attempted aggravated robberies in the North Memphis and Frayser areas between Nov. 15 and Nov. 27. Poole also was indicted on two counts of aggravated robbery and an attempted aggravated robbery.
On Nov. 19, shortly after a man’s pickup truck and wallet were stolen at gunpoint on Isabelle in North Memphis, a man and his wife reportedly were assaulted by the suspects when they stopped at an intersection at Truman Avenue and Ozan Street. Two of the assailants tried to open the doors of the couple’s vehicle, then one began shooting. Belinda Humphreys, 49, who was in the front passenger seat, was struck and killed.
Earlier that evening, a man and woman were walking their dogs in the 1000 block of Vaughn in the Berclair area when a man with a shotgun approached and demanded their belongings. A vehicle with several males then pulled up and pointed guns at them. As the vehicle pulled away, one of the suspects fired a shotgun at the couple’s dogs.
On Nov. 27, police spotted the pickup truck stolen eight days earlier on Isabelle travelling in the area of Range Line Road and James Road in Frayser.
When officers stopped the vehicle, Jacocks, Thomas and Causey fled on foot but were captured after a short chase. Pool was arrested the next day.
The cases are being handled by Chief Prosecutor Theresa McCusker of the DA’s Vertical Team 1, which handles cases in General Sessions Division 7 and Criminal Court Division 1, and by Assistant District Attorney Leslie Byrd.
Elderly man indicted in stabbings
A Raleigh man was indicted Oct. 1 for killing one man and critically injuring the victim’s girlfriend during a dispute at a room-and-board residence on Hanna Drive, Weirich said.
A grand jury indicted defendant David Smith, 69, on counts of first-degree murder and attempted first-degree murder. He is being held without bond.
The incident occurred on the evening of May 24 this year during a dispute at the Raleigh residence where they all lived.
Investigators said Smith stabbed 58-year-old resident Larry Pace multiple times, killing him at the scene. Smith also reportedly stabbed Pace’s 52-year-old girlfriend in the upper right arm. She was taken to a hospital, where she received 15 stitches.
Smith was still on the scene and was taken into custody.
The case is being handled by Assistant District Attorney Jamie Kidd of the DA’s Special Prosecution Unit, which seeks maximum sentencing for repeat felony offenders.
Man indicted in Cordova neighborhood murder
A 24-year-old man has been indicted on first-degree murder charges in the shooting death in May of a Cordova man who had written down a license tag that helped lead to the suspect, Weirich announced on Oct. 1.
Defendant Bryant Ward is being held without bond.
The shooting of Bryan Hervey, 61, on May 15 in the 1200 block of Linnean Cove was captured on a resident’s doorbell camera. The footage shows the victim running toward the front door, calling for help, while gunshots can be heard in the background.
The victim’s vehicle nearby had bullet holes and shattered windows.
Investigators said Hervey was clutching a piece of paper with a license number written on it, which enabled them to locate a vehicle in the neighborhood similar to the one from which the shots were fired. The license of that vehicle was a close match with the license number the victim had in his hand. Ward was arrested several days later.
A witness said Ward became upset after making eye contact with Hervey as their vehicles passed. Ward fired shots from the vehicle, then exited and continued shooting at the victim. Hervey was active in monitoring security in the neighborhood.
The case is being handled by Assistant District Attorneys McCusker and Sarah Poe.
