Jermaine D. Moore, Jr., an 18-year-old Black man, was at the threshold of his adult life in the spring of 2011. Known to his friends and family, he was part of the community connected to Melrose High School in Memphis, Tennessee. His life was remembered by those who knew him, including an officer from the school who offered condolences to his family, encouraging his brothers, Jamal and Jerry, to remain strong and focused on the future. His mother, Serita, and his wider family were left to mourn a young life that had just begun.
On the early evening of Tuesday, June 14, 2011, Jermaine’s future was violently stolen. At approximately 6:03 p.m., in the Orange Mound neighborhood of Memphis, police officers on patrol were flagged down by a citizen. They were directed to the front of a residence at 3211 Kimball Avenue, a street lined with modest single-family homes. There, on the sidewalk, they found Jermaine lying unresponsive. He had sustained an apparent gunshot wound. Paramedics were called to the scene, but his injury was fatal, and he was pronounced deceased.
The investigation into Jermaine’s murder was immediately launched by the Memphis Police Department’s Homicide Bureau. Detectives processed the scene on Kimball Avenue, a normally quiet residential street, searching for evidence and seeking witnesses who might have seen or heard something that could lead to a suspect. In the days and weeks that followed, however, information was scarce. No suspect description or motive was ever publicly released, leaving Jermaine’s family and community without answers about why the young man was targeted and killed.
In the absence of leads, the investigation grew cold. The initial shock and grief within his community were followed by the painful reality that justice for Jermaine remained elusive. His family held funeral services for him on Saturday, June 25, 2011, at N.J. Ford & Sons Funeral Home, and he was laid to rest in Galilee Memorial Gardens. Friends and loved ones filled a guestbook with prayers for his family, expressing their deep sympathy and sorrow over the senseless loss of a young man with his whole life ahead of him.
More than a decade has passed since Jermaine Moore was killed, and his homicide remains unsolved. The case is a painful, lingering wound for his loved ones who continue to wait for a breakthrough. The Memphis Police Department has not announced any arrests or named any persons of interest in connection with the shooting. The investigation is still open, but it is dependent on new information coming to light.
As of today, the circumstances of what happened on that sidewalk on Kimball Avenue are known only to the person or people who were there. Investigators continue to ask for the public’s help, hoping that someone with knowledge of the crime will finally come forward. The family and friends of Jermaine Moore hold onto hope that they will one day see justice served for his murder, a tragic end to a life that had only just begun.
