In Memphis, Tennessee, the tragic death of a 43-year-old Black female, Keva Partee, a gospel rapper and nurse, unfolded in the early morning hours of May 8th, a day that should have been spent celebrating Mother's Day. Shortly after two in the morning, Memphis police responded to a call about a car crash near Union and Cleveland in Midtown. Upon arrival, they discovered Partee and a male driver unconscious inside a vehicle that had crashed into a building.
Initially believed to be a car
accident, the investigation soon revealed a more sinister cause. Both Keva Partee and the driver had been shot multiple times. Detectives determined that someone had opened fire on their vehicle moments before the crash. According to Partee's mother, Vicki Spearman, her daughter and the driver had just left a rap group's video shoot. Investigators believe a disturbance may have occurred prior to the shooting. More than three months after the incident, Spearman was still pleading for answers and for the person responsible for her daughter's death to be brought to justice. At that time, no suspects had been publicly identified, and no arrests had been made in connection with the double homicide.
In a separate and distinct case, another Memphis woman named Keva Partee, aged 44, was the victim of a homicide. On Monday, November 1, 2021, her body was discovered inside a vehicle in the 3800 block of Wares Road. She had been shot to death. The investigation into her murder led Memphis Police to identify a suspect.
Antonio Braxton, a 46-year-old man, was arrested and charged with the first-degree murder of Keva Partee. In addition to the murder charge, Braxton also faced a charge of being a convicted felon in possession of a handgun. At the time of his arrest for Partee's murder, Braxton was already in custody on unrelated charges. The specific details regarding the circumstances of the shooting, the motive, and the relationship between Partee and Braxton have not been widely publicized as the case proceeds through the legal system.
