On an August day in Memphis, Tennessee, the life of 21-year-old Anthony DeWayne Pope was tragically cut short. The young African American man was fatally shot on August 29, 2016, outside a convenience store on Hawkins Mill Road in the Raleigh neighborhood. The incident, captured on the store's surveillance video, showed a man approaching Pope with a handgun as he was exiting the market and shooting him in the chest.
In the immediate aftermath, responding police officers were able to
speak with Pope, who, in what would be considered a 'dying declaration,' identified his shooter. This crucial piece of information pointed investigators directly to an acquaintance of Pope's. An eyewitness at the scene also positively identified the suspect. The investigation quickly led to an arrest in the murder that had shaken the local community, where friends and family gathered for a candlelight vigil to mourn the loss of a young man remembered as a kind person.
Zachary Thompson, who was 24 years old at the time of the incident, was arrested and charged with first-degree murder. Following his arrest, Thompson turned himself in to the authorities. During questioning, he claimed that he had fired his weapon in self-defense. However, this assertion was contradicted by the surveillance footage of the shooting.
In November 2018, a jury found Zachary Thompson, then 26, guilty of the first-degree murder of Anthony Pope. Following the verdict, he was automatically sentenced to life in prison by a Criminal Court judge. The prosecution's case was built on the strength of the store's surveillance video and the powerful testimony regarding Pope's dying words, which ultimately led to the conviction of the man responsible for his death.
