On a warm night in Cordova, Tennessee, the troubled life of 33-year-old Jeffrey Roth came to a violent end. He was shot and killed by his neighbor, Malik Hamud, on June 17, 2014. Roth suffered gunshot wounds to his abdomen, hand, and shoulder and died shortly after at the Regional Medical Center.
The events leading up to the fatal shooting were rooted in a history of personal turmoil for Roth.
His father stated that Jeffrey's life took a downward turn after his mother's death when he was 16, leading to drug use and criminal activity to support his habit. This pattern of behavior continued into his adult life, marked by numerous arrests in his native New Jersey and domestic incidents with his wife, Nicole, in Memphis. His wife had previously sought an order of protection against him, and he had been accused of threatening a former boss. On the night he was killed, there was an active arrest warrant for Roth for failure to appear in court on a traffic charge.
The fatal encounter occurred on Sanga Road where Roth and Hamud lived across the street from each other. The investigation into the shooting, conducted by the Memphis Police Department, concluded that Hamud acted in self-defense. Consequently, the Shelby County District Attorney's office did not file any charges against him. When police arrived at the scene, they found a large, folded pocketknife near Roth's body. He had no firearm on him. His father, upon learning of his death, expressed that he was not shocked, stating, 'I expected my son would end up one of these days.'
