Man charged in fatal shooting of MUS grad hires attorney
The 19-year-old man accused in the fatal shooting of a Memphis University School graduate hired a private attorney and will undergo a mental evaluation before he appears back in court on July 16.
Andrae Tewari Jr. was arrested June 17 and charged with second-degree murder in the death of Frank Gaines Whitington.
Whitington, 18, was shot and killed May 29, two weeks after he graduated from MUS. He was found in the parking lot at 8900 Links Drive East, inside the Champion Hills Apartments at Windyke, near the Windyke Country Club.
He was found lying on the ground next to the driver’s door of an SUV. He was pronounced dead on the scene.
Police said Tewari was identified as a suspect. He was brought in for questioning, where police said he gave them a written statement about the fatal shooting. The arrest report says the shooting stemmed from an argument.
Tewari’s family appeared in General Sessions Criminal court Thursday morning along with his newly hired attorney, Latonya Sue Burrow.
“All I can say at this point is we are in the process of investigating what happened,” Burrow said.
Tewari was being held at the Shelby County Jail on $800,000 bond.
Next Tuesday, he will be back in court on another case. He was indicted in September on an aggravated robbery charge. In that case, Tewari was arrested after police said he told investigators he was the getaway driver and is alleged to have helped plan the robbery of a man and several other robberies, according to an arrest affidavit.
At the time of Whitington’s slaying, Tewari was out of jail on $75,000 bond on the robbery charge.