In the spring of 2018, a violent altercation inside a Nashville hookah bar claimed the life of Marqondis Terif Thompson. The 21-year-old African American man, known affectionately as “Y G Mista,” was fatally shot on May 2, 2018, at the Medusa Nashville on Church Street. The incident, which erupted between two groups, also resulted in the non-life-threatening injury of another man, 22-year-old David Young.
Thompson was rushed to the hospital after the shooting but ultimately succumbed to his injuries.
The investigation into Thompson's death quickly led Metro Nashville police to identify a suspect. Deion Woodruff, 23, was named as the alleged gunman, and a warrant for his arrest on a charge of criminal homicide was issued. Woodruff was reportedly involved in the exchange of gunfire that led to Thompson's death and was also wanted on separate charges of attempted murder and carjacking. Despite efforts by law enforcement to locate him, Woodruff remained at large.
The pursuit of justice for Marqondis Thompson took an unexpected turn a few months later. On August 8, 2018, Deion Woodruff was himself found shot to death in North Nashville. His body had been pushed out of a car onto the pavement. Investigators concluded that Woodruff's murder was an act of retaliation for the killing of Thompson. Two years of further police work led to the indictment of two men, Donald L. Brown, 24, and DeAnthony Fletcher, 25, on charges of first-degree murder for Woodruff's death. Fletcher faced an additional charge of evidence tampering. While arrests were made in connection to the death of the man suspected of killing Thompson, no further arrests have been reported in direct connection with Thompson's murder.
