On a Saturday afternoon, just before 4:00 p.m. on November 3, 2007, a burst of violence at a Nashville carwash cut short the life of 20-year-old Stephen Donta Oden. The young man was at the NCW carwash located at 4007 Charlotte Avenue, focused on the everyday task of vacuuming out his 1998 Chevy Tahoe. He was accompanied by a friend, Ronnie Lee Carver, who was sitting in the passenger seat of the vehicle.
The normalcy of the afternoon was shattered when an unidentified Black male suspect pulled up in an early 2000s model 2-door, dark blue Chevy Monte Carlo. The man got out of his car and approached Oden, initiating a physical altercation that quickly escalated. In a matter of moments, the suspect produced a gun and shot Oden.
After shooting Oden, the assailant turned his attention to Carver, firing multiple shots at him as he sat in the Tahoe. Carver was struck several times before he managed to open the passenger door and fall to the ground, seeking cover next to the truck. The gunman fired at Carver once more as he lay on the ground. Following the brutal attack, the shooter calmly walked back to his Monte Carlo and drove away from the carwash.
Despite the public nature of the location and the presence of a witness, the murder of Stephen Donta Oden remains unsolved. The case has since gone cold, with no arrests made and the suspect never publicly identified. The Nashville Police Department continues to seek information from the public regarding the shooting, hoping for a lead that might bring closure to the family of the young man whose life was taken during a routine weekend chore.
