In the early moments of January 7, 2023, a tragic and violent encounter unfolded on the streets of South Nashville, Tennessee, claiming the life of 16-year-old Alexander Lara Delgado. The male teenager was driving when an incident that began at a Nolensville Pike gas station escalated into a fatal shooting. Shortly after 12:45 a.m., his vehicle crashed into an IHOP restaurant at the intersection of Nolensville Pike and Harding Place.
Responding officers discovered him in the driver's seat with a gunshot wound to his head. He was transported to a local medical center where he succumbed to his injuries.
The investigation into the shooting revealed a complex sequence of events that preceded the deadly crash. It is believed that a silver Acura MDX struck Delgado's car at the gas station and then left the scene. Delgado then pursued the Acura and reportedly fired a weapon at it before driving away. The driver of the Acura then chased after Delgado's vehicle. During this pursuit, the driver of the Acura, alleged to be Henry C. Fletcher Jr., 39, opened fire on Delgado's car. Gunfire damaged the rear passenger window and back windshield of Delgado's vehicle, and one of the shots fatally struck him. A loaded pistol was recovered from the floorboard of the teenager's car.
For months, the case remained unsolved, leaving Alexander's family in anguish and actively seeking justice. In July 2023, they held a rally to bring attention to the case and generate new leads. A significant breakthrough in the investigation came when detectives were able to access Delgado's phone, which contained a video of the other vehicle and its license plate. This evidence, along with a key witness who was a passenger in Fletcher's vehicle and was later located in Georgia, led investigators to identify a suspect.
Nearly ten months after the fatal shooting, on November 8, 2023, Henry C. Fletcher Jr. was arrested and charged with criminal homicide. He was taken into custody and booked into the Metro Nashville jail with his bond set at $150,000. The arrest brought a measure of comfort to Alexander's grieving family, who remembered him as a caring and loving individual.
