In the late hours of a Friday night in Antioch, Tennessee, a transaction was set to take place in the parking lot of a Kroger grocery store. The arrangement, however, would end in the untimely deaths of two young men. Eighteen-year-old Craige Strickland, a male from Memphis, had traveled with four other individuals to meet 23-year-old DeArious A. Harris of Antioch for what was supposed to be a marijuana deal on February 14, 2020.
What began as a transaction quickly escalated into a deadly confrontation. An argument erupted between the two parties, and in the ensuing chaos, gunfire was exchanged. The quiet of the grocery store parking lot was shattered by the violence that left both Strickland and Harris with fatal injuries. Strickland suffered a gunshot wound to the head, while Harris was struck in the chest.
Following the shooting, the scene was one of confusion and desperation. Harris was driven by his girlfriend to a nearby Waffle House, from where he was transported to a local hospital, but he would not survive his injuries. A short time later, Strickland was taken by his companions to General Hospital. Tragically, he was also pronounced dead shortly after his arrival.
Detectives from the South Precinct began piecing together the events of that night. Through interviews with Harris's girlfriend and the four men who had been with Strickland, a clearer picture of the drug deal gone wrong began to emerge. Based on the evidence recovered from the scene, which included two firearms, investigators came to the preliminary conclusion that both Craige Strickland and DeArious A. Harris had shot each other during the heated dispute. The investigation did not immediately lead to any other arrests in connection with the fatal encounter.
