Michael Pillow, a 22-year-old Black male, was fatally shot on the evening of May 6, 2014, in the breezeway of the Summerwind apartment complex in the Hermitage area of Nashville, Tennessee. He was there visiting a relative when an altercation escalated into a deadly confrontation.
The incident began with a verbal dispute between Pillow's friend, Nicholas Edmondson, and Eric Carter, a resident of the apartment complex. Following the argument, Carter contacted his family for assistance.
Shortly thereafter, a group including Carter's brothers, William and Demetrice Carter, arrived at the complex. An ambush ensued, and Michael Pillow was shot multiple times. He succumbed to his injuries, with the cause of death determined to be multiple gunshot wounds.
Law enforcement swiftly identified the suspects. Eric Carter, who was 22 at the time, was arrested on May 14, 2014, and charged with criminal homicide. Subsequent investigations led to the indictment of his brothers, William and Demetrice Carter, on charges of first-degree murder. Their mother, Verdal Miller, was also implicated and later indicted on a charge of first-degree murder.
The legal proceedings unfolded over several years. In October 2016, a jury found Eric Carter guilty of the first-degree premeditated murder of Michael Pillow and the attempted first-degree murder of Nicholas Edmondson. He received a life sentence. In June 2018, Verdal Miller was found guilty of the lesser charge of facilitation of first-degree murder. The cases against William and Demetrice Carter also concluded with guilty dispositions for felony murder in May 2019, following initial charges of first-degree murder. The resolution of Demetrice Carter's case involved an initial 'nolle prosequi' on the first-degree murder charge in January 2015, before the later guilty finding on the felony murder charge.
