Uncategorized

Marco M. (Mario) Gilmore was visiting in a friend’s home at 1018 Eldridge Avenue, between N. Decatur and Kney streets in north Memphis. It was 9:50 p.m. on a mild Saturday evening, April 21, 2012.

A knock brought Gilmore, 33, to the front door.

He opened it and saw two individuals standing on the porch on the other side of the storm door. The duo began firing shots through the glass. Bullets struck Gilmore. Although he was rushed to Regional One (then The Med) trauma center, he died soon after arrival.

It is possible that witnesses to this murder have yet to come forward a decade later. The Memphis Police Department’s Cold Case Unit has issued a plea that any witness or someone knowledgeable about the homicide step up to help solve this still-active case by contacting CrimeStoppers or cold case detectives.

It was just after 6 p.m. Oct. 9, 1989 when Nancy R. Little, 32, was found dead in her white four-door 1988 Honda Accord. Someone had held her in an awkward position until she stopped breathing. Her death was ruled a homicide due to “positional asphyxia” by then Shelby County Chief Medical Examiner Dr. Jerry T. Francisco.

Also murdered was her unborn child. Nancy Little was nine months pregnant and was due soon to deliver the baby.

The car was parked on Slate Road, just 20 feet west of Hornsby Drive in the Whitehaven neighborhood. Memphis Police investigators have worked since that day to try to determine who is responsible for her death and what was the motive for the attack.

Vallen Conner was sitting in her vehicle and talking to a friend outside her friend’s home about 11 p.m. on that date when a light brown or tan SUV (possibly a Chevrolet Trail Blazer) parked on the street a few houses away. The vehicle then drove past the friend’s house when one or more individuals inside the SUV began firing guns.

Vallen Conner was shot in the shoulder; her friend was shot in the foot. Vallen died from her injury within 15 minutes. The friend was taken to Regional One’s trauma center where she was treated and released.

Investigators now believe three suspects occupied the SUV. Two fired shots. Detectives need someone to come forward about this murder.

It was five minutes past midnight, Sunday, May 24, 2015, when Memphis Police Entertainment District officers responded to a shooting report on South Fourth Street near Dr. Martin Luther King Avenue. They soon found U.S. Army Sergeant Calvin Wilhite lying in the street and unresponsive. He had been shot and he died at the scene.

A vehicle involved was described as a light green or gray 4-door sedan, possibly a mid-2000s Dodge Stratus, Ford Taurus or similar model.

Officers learned the victim had been arguing with two men described as black males in their early to mid twenties. The one responsible for the shooting had a small-to-medium build, was wearing a white t-shirt and was sitting on the passenger door frame as the car moved down the street when he fired.

The vehicle then fled the scene.

It’s been nearly 10 years since Dennis Gilliam was found shot dead in bed in southeast Memphis. He had been shot twice in the head in a case his family considered an assassination.

After several months a man was arrested in the shooting, but was later freed for lack of evidence, although he was found guilty of aggravated assault. The shooting occurred on Forsyth Drive.

Investigators have kept the case open in the hope someone will come forward with information that can lead to a murder prosecution.

Thirteen-year-old Demonte was visiting family that day and walking on Looney Avenue near Leath Street in north Memphis when he was shot and killed. He was rushed to Regional One Hospital where he later died.

Memphis Police Department detectives have few leads and have requested the public’s help. Tennessee Governor Bill Lee has approved the Shelby County District Attorney General’s request for a $15,000 award for anyone providing information that leads to an arrest and conviction in this case. The amount would be in addition to a $1,000 award offered by CrimeStoppers for any information that simply leads to an arrest.

This 67-year-old grandmother was killed when a dozen or more shots were fired into her home that spring evening. Bullets rained through the walls and windows of her south Memphis home.

She was taken to Regional One by paramedics but she died of multiple bullets that entered her back.

Investigators are asking anyone who saw something on Norfolk Street that night to step forward and help. Even the smallest detail could be important.

It was around noon on Thanksgiving Day in 2017 when Memphis police officers responded to a shooting report at a house on Cochese Road, south of American Way in Memphis.

Inside the house they found the 68-year-old Wong, an Air Force veteran. He had been shot and was pronounced dead by responding paramedics. His family returned from a restaurant to find him. There had been an apparent home invasion and the family vehicle, a Honda Odyssey, was stolen. It was found abandoned the next day. No other clues were left behind.

Ten-year-old Richard Jordan was in a car with family members and friends on that Monday afternoon when their vehicle came to a stop at a light on Airways Boulevard at Ketchum Road in Frayser. Three cars came alongside and multiple shots were fired.

The other cars — described as a gold Chevrolet Malibu with missing hubcaps, a black Chrysler 300 and a gray sedan — fled east on Ketchum.

Jordan, a 12-year-old and one adult were driven to the MPD Airways station, then transported to the hospital by paramedics. All three had gunshot injuries. Young Jordan died at the hospital.

Samuel Johnson was walking with a friend from the North Frayser Community Center. It was early in the evening of Halloween. At the intersection of Wellons Avenue and Glenalp Street, Johnson was hit by gunfire that apparently came from a 2010 Mitsubishi Gallant. The victim died a short time later at Methodist North Hospital.

Investigators need help developing leads in this homicide.

It was about 6 p.m. on a Friday evening — Halloween — October 31, 2014 when Samuel D. Johnson and a friend walked from the North Frayser Community Center, 2555 St. Elmo Avenue toward the friend’s house. When they reached the intersection of Wellons Avenue and Glenalp Street in the north Memphis neighborhood Johnson was shot.

It is believed the gunfire came from one or more subjects in a nearby 2010 Misubishi Gallant. Johnson died a short time after arriving at the Methodist North Emergency Room.

Cold Case investigators with the Memphis Police Department are asking that any witnesses to the shooting, or anyone with information on who is responsible, to please step forward. Information can be given to CrimeStoppers, (901) 528-CASH (2274). Or call the Cold Case Hotline (901) 636-COLD (2653). Leave a voice message and an investigator will call back.