Defendant pleads guilty in pregnant teen’s death
The defendant charged with killing pregnant teen Vianca Harris last March with a shotgun pleaded guilty Thursday to second-degree murder.
Shelby County Criminal Court Judge Bobby Carter sentenced 25-year-old Terry Turner to 25 years in prison.
Turner, was charged in the March 14, 2016 death of Harris, 15, at the Valley Forge Apartments in the 100 block of Hillview Avenue near Neely Road. Police found the teen around 1 a.m. slumped over a couch. She had been shot behind her left ear, according to an arrest affidavit. Memphis police Lt. Karen Rudolph said further investigation revealed the teen was four to five weeks pregnant.
Turner had been indicted on first-degree murder charges and pleaded to a lesser charge of second-degree murder, said Assistant Public Defender Amy Mayne. Turner was initially booked into the women's jail at Shelby County Jail East and later sent to the men's jail at 201 Poplar amid confusion about the inmate's gender.
A witness alleged that Turner took a 12-gauge shotgun from a closet, racked a live round into the gun and shot Vianca in the head, according to the affidavit. Turner told authorities the gun went off after the victim was playing with it.
Outspoken and creative, Vianca aspired to work in fashion design, said her mother, Jenell Harris.
She was the youngest of five girls and one boy.
"She was my baby girl out of six kids," Harris said. "She was beautiful. She was my last baby of the bundle, and she was taken from me just like that. There’s no way I can bring her back. I wish I could."
Reach reporter Katie Fretland at kfretland@gannett.com or on Twitter: @katiefretland.