Woman fatally shot by SCSO deputies named, TBI investigating

The Tennessee Bureau of Investigation has identified a woman who was fatally shot by a Shelby County Sheriff’s deputy in Bartlett Saturday.

Melissa S. Horton, 43, was pulled over because law enforcement believed she had been involved in a domestic violence incident, officials said.

“At approximately 2:40 p.m., deputies stopped the vehicle on Ellis Road near Golden Valley Lane in Bartlett,” TBI spokesperson Keli Mcalister said at a press conference Saturday evening. “For reasons still under investigation, as officers approached the vehicle, shots were fired, and the driver was struck.”

Horton, of Brownsville, was pronounced dead at the scene.

It remains unknown what led the deputy, or deputies — since TBI could not say how many were involved in the shooting — to fire at Horton, and if she was armed at the time of the shooting. She was the only person in the car when shots were fired.

Deputies were given a description of the car Horton was driving, along with the tag numbers, by Fayette County law enforcement, according to TBI. The deputies spotted the car and either “followed or pursued the vehicle to [Ellis Road]...and that’s when the shots were fired,” Mcalister said.

So far, TBI has been called in three times this year to investigate shootings involving a Memphis or Shelby County law enforcement agency. Incidents involved the Collierville Police Department, Memphis Police Department and Shelby County Sheriff’s Office.

TBI is also investigating Memphis Police for the Jan. 7 beating of Tyre Nichols.

There were 10 officer-involved shootings in and around Memphis in 2022. Six of them happened in the last two months of the year.

Lucas Finton is a news reporter with The Commercial Appeal. He can be reached at Lucas.finton@commercialappeal.com and followed on Twitter @Lucasfinton.