Demarco Wallace, a Black male, was killed on April 16, 2026, after a targeted shooting at a strip mall in the Fox Meadows area of Memphis, Tennessee. The violence unfolded shortly after 4:30 p.m. near Knight Arnold Road and South Mendenhall Road, around the Valero gas station and Hookah Plus Vape. Memphis police said three adult men were shot. One victim was found inside the gas station with a gunshot wound, while two others were found nearby outside the vape shop. All three were rushed to Regional One Health in critical condition, but Wallace later died from his injuries.
The shooting was described by police as targeted rather than random. Early information from the scene indicated the gunman was dressed in all black and opened fire on the three men outside the business before fleeing south on South Mendenhall Road in a silver sedan. The attack left evidence scattered across the parking lot, with investigators placing markers near bullet casings while officers and crime scene personnel worked through the area. One bullet reportedly struck a gas line outside the store, forcing MLGW crews to respond and shut off the gas.
As investigators pieced together what happened, surveillance footage became central to the case. Police later alleged that the suspect, identified as 21-year-old Travis Richardson, walked up to the vape store carrying two guns and fired toward Wallace and the two other victims. Additional footage from a street camera on Honeywood Avenue reportedly showed a damaged silver Infiniti arriving before the shooting, then someone wearing clothing matching the shooter running back to that car afterward and driving away.
Investigators also looked into a possible motive tied to an earlier conflict. According to reports, while police were collecting video from the vape store, the store manager told them about an August 2025 incident involving one of the surviving victims, identified in reporting as Moore. In that earlier incident, Moore allegedly took a firearm from an unknown man in front of the store and refused to give it back. Police reviewed footage from that incident and said it showed Moore receiving the gun, keeping it, and the other man leaving in a silver sedan similar to the car used in the April 2026 shooting. A person familiar with the location also told reporters the victims and the suspect had been involved in a long-running feud, suggesting the gunfire may have grown out of an ongoing dispute rather than a sudden confrontation.
Police connected the damaged silver Infiniti to Richardson through the vehicle’s damage and a prior crash report from September. A BOLO was issued for the vehicle, and officers later located it at Hickory Forest Apartments in the 5900 block of North Little Brook Circle. On April 17, officers with the Mt. Moriah Task Force, working with federal agents, watched Richardson get into the vehicle and arrested him without incident. Police said they recovered a handgun in a backpack during the arrest.
Richardson was charged in connection with Wallace’s death and the injuries to the two surviving victims. The reported charges included first-degree murder, two counts of attempted first-degree murder, and three counts of employing a firearm during the commission of a dangerous felony. Memphis Homicide Tracker listed the case as solved, with the cause of death recorded as firearm.
