On a summer night in Clarksville, Tennessee, the life of a young soldier was tragically cut short. Liperial 'Savon' Easterling, a 21-year-old male stationed at Fort Campbell, was returning to his residence on Teakwood Drive on August 9, 2015. As he approached his own front door, he was shot and killed. In the initial stages of the investigation, the motive for the shooting was unclear, and police sought help from the public to identify any suspects. Investigators noted that they had not found any links between Easterling and drug or gang-related activities.
The investigation into Easterling's death led Clarksville Police to identify and arrest four individuals in connection with the crime. The suspects were Emmanuel Wallace, then 22; Joshua Aretz, 21; Clinton Hunter III, 19; and Detarius Curry, 23. Wallace and Aretz faced the most severe charges, including first-degree murder, felony murder, and aggravated robbery. Hunter was charged with criminal responsibility for facilitation of a felony and tampering with evidence, while Curry was charged with tampering with evidence.
The legal proceedings brought convictions for the two main suspects. In October 2016, Joshua Aretz was found guilty and received a sentence of 47 and a half years in prison. It was revealed that Aretz was out on bond for a 2014 murder at the time of Easterling's death. In August 2018, Emmanuel Wallace was also found guilty of felony murder and second-degree murder, resulting in a life sentence. While Wallace was convicted of murder in the perpetration of a robbery, the jury acquitted him of the aggravated robbery charge itself. His appeal, which argued that the verdicts were inconsistent, was ultimately denied, affirming the judgment of the trial court.
