3 charged in shooting over cellphone
A 17-year-old was walking home from a friend’s house and talking on his cellphone when he was ambushed by robbers. He didn’t follow their orders quickly enough, so one of the gunmen shot him, police said.
I nvestigators have charged two juveniles, both 17, and 21-year-old Thaddeus Boyd with especially aggravated robbery for the March 14 shooting and robbery, police records show.
The victim, shot in the right lower leg, told police that a gunman he had never seen before approached him at about 10:15 p.m. on Emerald Street near the Hickory Hill area and pointed a silver pistol while shouting, “Give me that phone and shoes,” according to a police affidavit.
While one robber began taking the shoes, another robber got out of a silver car with a black handgun and griped, “He act like he is proc r a s t i nating, so go ahead and give me that shirt” too, before the culprits stole his phone, shoes and shirt and shot him, the victim told police.
Investigators believe a third suspect, the getaway driver, remained in the car.
The suspects have given different accounts to police about their roles in the incident.
Each teen insists he remained in the car, with one saying Boyd was the getaway driver who remained in the car and the other claiming Boyd was the triggerman, court records show.
All three can be prosecuted for the same crimes Thaddeus Boyd under Tennessee’s legal principle of “criminal responsibility” — which finds all participants culpable if they team up to commit a crime — like the robbery — and the shooting was a natural consequence.
Days after the shooting, the victim was still experiencing “extreme pain in his leg and nerve damage in his foot,” according to police reports.
Prosecutors have filed notice of their intention to seek transfer of both minors to adult court on felony charges. They are due Wednesday in Juvenile Court for a hearing. The Commercial Appeal doesn’t typically name juveniles charged with crimes other than murder unless they are transferred. Police also have charged the adult with another gun crime that occurred hours after the robbery which endangered adults, an infant and a child. Boyd remains jailed on a $1 million bond.