In the closing hours of 2016, a violent encounter in Memphis, Tennessee, claimed the life of 30-year-old Muwani Deshun Dewberry. On December 31, 2016, Dewberry was involved in an attempt to rob and kill a man named Keith Crum. The incident, however, took a fatal turn, and Dewberry himself was shot and killed. Responding to a shooting report at the corner of Saxon and Cummings Streets, Memphis Police found a wounded Dewberry, who was unable to communicate and later succumbed to his injuries.
The investigation into Dewberry's death revealed a complex situation where he was both a participant in a planned crime and ultimately a victim of homicide. Security footage from a nearby location showed a silver BMW arriving at the scene where Dewberry was found. A man exited the passenger side of the vehicle, removed Dewberry from the car, and left him on the sidewalk before the car drove away. This man was later identified as one of his accomplices.
Authorities subsequently arrested Anthony Ellis and Lloyd Crawford in connection with the fatal incident. The ensuing legal proceedings established that Dewberry, along with Ellis and Crawford, had conspired to commit a violent crime against Keith Crum, who sustained a non-fatal gunshot wound to his hand during the altercation. While Dewberry was a party to the initial criminal intent, under the law, his death during the commission of a felony led to a murder charge for his co-conspirators.
Anthony Ellis was ultimately convicted by a Shelby County Criminal Court jury of first-degree felony murder for the death of Muwani Dewberry. In addition to the murder conviction, Ellis was also found guilty of the attempted first-degree premeditated murder of Keith Crum and attempted especially aggravated robbery. The court sentenced Ellis to life imprisonment for the felony murder, along with concurrent sentences of eighteen years for the attempted murder and ten years for the attempted robbery. His co-defendant, Lloyd Crawford, was tried jointly with him.
