Man arrested and charged in connection to University of Memphis student's death
A 22-year-old man has been charged with first-degree murder in the disappearance and death of a University of Memphis nursing student who went missing last month just before graduation, Memphis Police said Friday.
Vincent Patterson is also charged with one count first-degree murder in the perpetration of a robbery, aggravated robbery and tampering with evidence in connection with the death of 25-year-old Barshay Wilson, according to MPD.
Wilson was reported missing after he left a friend's home on Dec. 9 near a Hickory Hill apartment complex and hadn't been heard from since. MPD sent a City Watch alert on Wilson on Dec. 11, listing him as an "endangered missing adult."
According to a police affidavit, the Shelby County Sheriff's Office was responding to a call about a car on fire. The response happened about an hour and a half after Wilson was last seen.
The car, a 2015 Chevrolet Camaro, was towed to an MPD impound lot. Wilson's Tennessee ID was inside the car.
Two days later, on Dec. 12, MPD investigators returned to the scene.
"When MPD investigators returned to the scene two (2) days later, they discovered Barshay Wilson approximately seventy five (75) yards away from where the Camaro was located," the affidavit said. "Barshay Wilson had multiple gunshot wounds and he was pronounced deceased on the scene."
According to MPD, Wilson was found the afternoon of Dec. 12 on Highway 70 near a wastewater treatment plant in Arlington.
Police started to focus on Patterson during the investigation and he was arrested after a search warrant was executed at his house.
Patterson said that he and another person, the owner of the Camaro who has not been charged nor arrested as of Friday morning, shot Wilson and then "took his marijuana, and set fire to the Camaro after dumping Barshay Wilson's body nearby."
Wilson was a 2016 graduate of Whitehaven High School where he was a defensive player on the football team.
His college career began that same year at Middle Tennessee State University. According to Wilson's Facebook, he was studying nursing at MTSU prior to his move to the University of Memphis.
According to the commencement program, Wilson was set to graduate from the University of Memphis on Dec. 11 from the College of Health Sciences.
A bond has not been set for Patterson, who was arrested Thursday, and he is due in court Monday.
Lucas Finton is a news reporter with The Commercial Appeal. He can be reached at Lucas.Finton@commercialappeal.com and followed on Twitter @LucasFinton.
This article originally appeared on Memphis Commercial Appeal: Man arrested and charged in connection to Barshay Wilson's death
