In the early morning hours of February 4, 2016, the life of 29-year-old Bertram Eugene Thompson was tragically cut short in Memphis, Tennessee. Thompson was discovered face down at the intersection of Outland Road and Cromwell Avenue in the Parkway Village area, having sustained multiple gunshot wounds. Passing motorists made the grim discovery at approximately 2:40 a.m., and he was pronounced dead at the scene.
The initial investigation into the homicide led Memphis police to seek
public assistance in identifying a vehicle of interest. Surveillance footage from the area captured a red, extended cab pickup truck near the scene of the crime, which authorities believed was connected to the shooting. Investigators determined that Bertram Thompson had been approached by several men who were inside this truck shortly before he was killed. The truck, which belonged to a relative of one of the eventual suspects, was later found burned in a field in Robinsonville, Mississippi.
For several years, the case remained under investigation. In a significant development in December 2021, a Mississippi man named Jonathan L. Smith, then 27, pleaded guilty to second-degree murder and attempted aggravated robbery for his role in Thompson's death. As a result of his plea, Smith was sentenced to 30 years in prison. At the time of Smith's conviction, it was reported that three co-defendants also charged in the homicide were scheduled for court appearances in the following week.
Bertram Thompson was a graduate of Bishop Byrne High School and a father to a son, Bertram E. Thompson II.
