In the spring of 2017, the family of Anitra Jones-Summerville, a 42-year-old African American woman from Memphis, Tennessee, grew worried. They had not seen or heard from her for a week and on April 6, 2017, her sister reported her as missing. The search for Anitra would come to a grim end four days later, not in Memphis, but in a tow lot in Horn Lake, Mississippi.
An employee of a wrecking service was conducting a routine inventory of a repossessed car that had been towed from a street in Memphis when they made a horrifying discovery. Inside the trunk was the decomposing body of Anitra Jones-Summerville. An investigation determined that she had died from multiple gunshot wounds.
Suspicion quickly fell upon her husband, Melvin Summerville. Investigators learned that he had a history of domestic violence against his wife. Although he initially told police he had last seen his wife on March 28, 2017, video evidence showed the couple together in her car on March 30, the same vehicle where her body was later found. Further evidence emerged as witnesses told police that Melvin believed his wife had 'set him up to get attacked.' The investigation also uncovered that Melvin had confessed the killing to a friend, providing details of how he did it. GPS data from phones linked to Melvin and a girlfriend placed him at the location where the victim's car was abandoned in the hours after the murder. Phone records also showed he had returned to the crime scene within 24 hours.
In November 2018, Melvin Summerville was indicted on a charge of first-degree murder. He was held without bond leading up to his trial. The case, handled by the Shelby County District Attorney's Domestic Violence Prosecution Unit, went before a jury. In August 2021, after deliberating for less than an hour, the jury found Melvin Summerville guilty of the first-degree murder of his wife. Following the conviction, the 43-year-old was automatically sentenced to life in prison for the crime.
