Wakesha Bufford, a 23-year-old Black woman, lived in the Buntyn area of Memphis, Tennessee. In the early morning hours of December 9, 2016, a friend was on the phone with Wakesha when the conversation was horrifically interrupted. The friend heard Wakesha scream that her boyfriend, Eric Dewayne Carpenter, had just kicked in the door of the residence they shared on Monterrey Square.
After the line went dead, the friend tried calling back multiple times but received no answer.
A neighbor reported seeing Carpenter getting into his car and driving away from the home around the same time the distressing phone call occurred. When police arrived at the residence, they discovered a tragic scene. Wakesha Bufford was found in a bedroom, having suffered from multiple gunshot wounds. She was pronounced dead at the scene, her life cut short in a moment of violence.
The investigation quickly focused on her boyfriend, Eric Dewayne Carpenter. A search for him was launched, and he was later located and arrested in Dallas, Texas. Carpenter was then extradited back to Memphis to face charges for Wakesha's death. The case was handled by the Shelby County District Attorney's Domestic Violence Prosecution Unit.
In a resolution to the case, Eric Dewayne Carpenter, who was 32 years old at the time, pleaded guilty to second-degree murder. The victim's family approved the plea deal. A Criminal Court judge sentenced Carpenter to 30 years in prison for the murder of Wakesha Bufford. Under the terms of his sentence, he will not have the possibility for parole.
