On a summer evening in Memphis, Tennessee, the sounds of a basketball game at the Raleigh Community Center were tragically interrupted by gunfire. It was July 18, 2016, a day that would end in the death of 21-year-old Justin Tyler Davis, a Black/African American male. While on the basketball court, Davis was struck in the abdomen by a stray bullet.
He was privately rushed to Methodist North Hospital, but the single gunshot wound proved to be fatal.
Witnesses at the scene described a chaotic moment when a man opened fire into the crowd of people gathered at the community center. The investigation into the senseless act of violence quickly pointed to 19-year-old Deeddrick Walton. Four days after the shooting, on July 22, 2016, police located and arrested Walton at a Motel 6 on Sycamore View. The arrest was made after police responded to a call about a man brandishing a weapon. The handgun found in Walton's possession, a Glock, was later determined to be the same weapon used in the shooting that killed Davis. Further investigation revealed the gun had been reported stolen from a car burglary earlier that year.
Following his arrest, Deeddrick Walton was charged with first-degree murder in connection with the death of Justin Tyler Davis. He also faced charges of employing a firearm during a dangerous felony and being a convicted felon in possession of a handgun. The case took another turn when a second suspect, 18-year-old Lorenzo Jones, was also implicated in the crime. Jones was subsequently arrested and charged with first-degree murder and employing a firearm during a dangerous felony, the same charges leveled against Walton.
