In the winter of 2016, the life of 25-year-old Marques DeAngelo Black, a Black male from Memphis, Tennessee, was tragically cut short. On the evening of February 10th, gunshots echoed on Nelson Avenue, and when the sound faded, Black was left fatally wounded. The incident was quickly determined to be a homicide, another grim statistic in a year marked by increasing violence in the city.
The senseless act left a family grieving and a community searching for answers.
The investigation into the shooting led Memphis police to a suspect, Antonio Benson. Details emerged that the two men were acquaintances and had been involved in a dispute that tragically escalated. Benson was subsequently arrested and charged with the murder of Marques Black, setting the stage for a lengthy legal battle that would wind its way through the Tennessee court system. The arrest brought a measure of hope for justice to those mourning the loss of the young father.
Antonio Benson stood trial in the Shelby County Criminal Court, where a jury ultimately found him guilty of first-degree premeditated murder. The conviction carried an automatic sentence of life in prison. Following the verdict, Benson's legal team launched an appeal, arguing that the trial court had erred by not instructing the jury on the possibility of self-defense. The Tennessee Court of Criminal Appeals agreed with this assertion and reversed the conviction, ordering a new trial.
However, the legal saga did not end there. The state of Tennessee appealed the appellate court's decision to the Tennessee Supreme Court. In a final turn of events, the state's highest court reviewed the case and reversed the judgment of the Court of Criminal Appeals. This decision had the effect of reinstating Antonio Benson's original conviction for the first-degree murder of Marques Black. With the legal avenues exhausted, Benson continues to serve his life sentence.
