In the Binghampton neighborhood of Memphis, Tennessee, a sense of unease settled over the residents of the Woodcrest Apartments on a Tuesday evening. On January 17, 2017, the flashing lights of police cars illuminated the building on North Hollywood Street, drawing the attention of curious and concerned neighbors. Inside, the lifeless body of 31-year-old Sulema Tornez, a female, was discovered in a hallway.
She had been brutally stabbed multiple times and was pronounced dead at the scene when police arrived around 5:15 p.m.
The news of the violent death sent ripples of fear through the community. Residents, speaking to local news outlets, expressed their shock and nervousness, with some choosing to remain anonymous for their own safety. The presence of crime scene tape served as a stark reminder of the tragedy that had unfolded so close to home. The Memphis Police Department promptly launched a homicide investigation, marking Tornez's death as the tenth homicide in the city for that year.
In the initial stages of the investigation, law enforcement officials stated their belief that Sulema Tornez likely knew her attacker. This detail, while offering a potential direction for the inquiry, did little to quell the anxieties of a community grappling with the violence in their midst. Despite the ongoing investigation and the belief that the victim was not killed by a stranger, publicly available information has not indicated that any arrests have been made in connection with her murder. The case remains a painful memory for those who knew her and a chilling, unsolved crime for the city of Memphis.
