In the late afternoon of August 28, 2020, a grim discovery was made at the Fairview Inn and Suites in Memphis, Tennessee. The body of 26-year-old Ashley Richardson Carter, a Black female, was found inside a Nissan Maxima in the hotel parking lot. She had been shot multiple times. Inside the hotel lobby, another victim, Waquel Richardson, was also found deceased from multiple gunshot wounds.
Ashley Richardson Carter was the daughter of Darnell Carlton, also known as Crunchy Black, a former member of the hip-hop group Three 6 Mafia.
The investigation into the double homicide quickly focused on identifying a suspect vehicle seen in surveillance footage from the hotel. The vehicle, a gold Chevrolet Tahoe with a distinctive rear bumper, was located a few days later on Andy Road. During a search of a nearby home, police discovered Lamont Murry hiding in the attic. The owner of the Tahoe informed investigators that Murry had been in possession of the vehicle on the day of the shooting and that she had witnessed him attempting to spray paint the bumper upon his return.
Following his arrest, Murry confessed to his involvement in the killings. He told investigators that the shooting was an act of gang retaliation for a double homicide that had occurred earlier that month on August 14. Murry was subsequently charged with two counts of first-degree murder and tampering with evidence.
The legal proceedings against Lamont Murry have been complex. The initial charges against him in the 2020 shooting were dismissed in October of that year due to a lack of evidence. However, the case was later presented to a grand jury, and in June 2021, Murry was indicted on charges of first-degree murder and tampering with or fabricating evidence in connection with the deaths of Ashley Richardson Carter and Waquel Richardson. He was not taken into custody on this indictment until his arrest for a separate, unrelated murder in November 2021.
