Memphis CrimeStoppers offering $10k rewards for 12 different murder cases, seeking tips

CrimeStoppers of Memphis and Shelby County is offering $10,000 for information that leads to police charging, or obtaining a warrant for, suspects in any of twelve different open murder cases, CrimeStoppers Director David Wayne Brown said Tuesday afternoon.

The initiative comes after a flurry of donations from Memphians, both high-profile and regular citizens, that totaled $85,000. That amount, combined with the funds CrimeStoppers had previously budgeted, created the $120,000 pot of rewards being offered.

"This is by far the highest number of extra awards we have ever announced at any given time," Brown said. "The donation comes from people concerned about the problem of gun violence and the increasing rates of serious felony crimes in our community, including murders."

CrimeStoppers recently updated the standard award amount cap to $4,000, and Brown said he hopes the increased rewards will encourage more people to call tips in.

A calls to CrimeStoppers "truly is anonymous," Brown said, and he explained that they are routed to Canada before the CrimeStoppers tipline.

"We have software so that when a call comes in...the identity of that call was totally stripped away because it's sent to Canada, where it's stripped, and then it comes back to us instantly," he said. "Then we give that person a secret code and take the information. Defense attorneys have, sometimes over the years, come to us, or come to a judge, and say, 'We want to know who called in that tip.' We make certain that they cannot be identified, and we never know who they are."

The 12 victims that CrimeStoppers is providing the $10,000 rewards for range in age, race and gender. The cases also range from four years old to as recent as this May.

Brown said he was given "scores of cases to look at" when deciding which ones to assign the extra rewards to. He said he wanted to find a "cross-section of the community" along with cases that detectives believed could be solved "if they could just get another phone call with another piece of information."

CrimeStoppers can be called at (901)528-2274, and Brown said the organization welcomes any tips.

What are the cases CrimeStoppers is offering $10,000 rewards for?

Here are the cases CrimeStoppers is offering additional rewards for, along with additional case information CrimeStoppers provided media with Tuesday. The victims are listed in chronological order of their death.

Glenn Cofield, 57, of Memphis was killed on June 9, 2019, after leaving a charity fundraiser with his wife. They were walking to their car parked at Greater Lewis Street Missionary Baptist Church at 10:30 p.m. when Cofield's wife heard him "exchange words with someone" near their car, the information from CrimeStoppers said.

"She saw through the window someone wearing a hoodie and then heard a gunshot," CrimeStoppers said. "Seconds later she saw two dark-colored vehicles leave the lot and head east on Poplar Avenue. Mrs. Cofield got out of the car and went to her husband, then called for help on her phone."

Glenn Cofield had been shot in the heart by a single bullet and pronounced dead at the scene. CrimeStoppers said a motive was not known, but that "a robbery attempt is possible." The people in the two vehicles, CrimeStoppers said, may have been involved in the shooting.

Ja'Kobe White, 15, of Memphis was killed May 2, 2021, while sitting in a 2015 Nissan Pathfinder with a friend, who was also 15 at the time. The two were outside a house at 3806 Masterson St. in Mt. Pisgah when CrimeStoppers said a black, four-door sedan with two men drove by slowly, driving north.

"The car returned minutes later, stopped in from of the Nissan and seven .9 mm shots were fired," CrimeStoppers said. "Ja'Kobe died in the car. His friend ran to the house where she collapsed and was taken to Le Bonheur Children's Hospital in critical condition. She survived her injuries."

Marlon Bobo, 29, was killed June 18, 2021, while fueling a 2007 Mitsubishi Eclipse at Victory Fuel Station on New Allen Road in North Memphis. A 4-year-old was in the car at the time.

When Bobo got out of the car, CrimeStoppers said, a red Dodge pickup truck pulled into the lot and at least three men with rifles and a handgun got out.

"Over the next seconds, the men fired 88 rounds, striking Bobo several times in his arms, legs, head and torso," CrimeStoppers said. "Some bullets scattered all over the scene. He died where he fell. Another person was inside the business using an ATM machine. He was shot in the left ankle. The f4-year-old was unhurt and was released to his mother. A clerk at the business locked up and fled."

CrimeStoppers called the shooting an "apparent gang killing" that "remains unsolved."

Drew Rainer, 22, was killed on Oct. 3, 2021, during an apparent home invasion near Rhodes College. According to CrimeStoppers, four men kicked in a door and entered the house. One of the men, according to the organization, was armed with a handgun.

"After the intruders collected personal belongings, the armed man ordered Drew Rainer to provide an unlock code to his iPad," CrimeStoppers said. "He was reluctant to comply with the order and the man counted down to 10, then shot the victim in the chest, and after a brief struggle, shot Fiona Bono in the hand. The men left with the stolen items."

One man, Rainess Holmes, was tracked to the Summer Motel and ran from police. According to CrimeStoppers, a wallet belonging to Rainer was found to have fallen from Holmes' pocket as he hopped a fence. A tip to CrimeStoppers eventually led to Holmes being arrested, and he was indicted on charges of premeditated first-degree murder, murder in the perpetration of a robbery, murder in the perpetration of a burglary, especially aggravated robbery, especially aggravated burglary, especially aggravated kidnapping, four counts of aggravated robbery and convicted felon in possession of a handgun in February 2022.

However, another person is believed to have been involved in the robbery, according to CrimeStoppers. The organization said police believe "another individual involved in the robbery shot Drew with a .40-cal gun and are asking the public's help in identifying the suspect."

Donald Ertler, 64, was shot on Dec. 31, 2021, while walking on Harvester Lane in South Memphis. He was cutting across an empty field around 8 p.m., "when a witness who was driving north on Harvester told police she saw a dark-colored sedan heading the opposite direction. As the car drew near, occupants began shooting automatic weapons. She saw the victim fall to the ground even as bullets hit her car," CrimeStoppers said.

The woman was uninjured, CrimeStoppers said, and Ertler spent 17 months in various hospitals until he died on May 23 of this year. Police, according to CrimeStoppers, recovered 16 .10 mm shell casings and 23 .9 mm casings from the streets and sidewalks around the shooting scene.

Jeffrey Miller, 22, was shot and killed March 20, 2022 near the intersection of Mountain Terrace Street and Point Church Avenue in Frayser. Memphis police responded to a call about a shooting in the area and found Miller's car wrecked.

"Miller had been shot in the head," CrimeStoppers said. "He was transported to Regional One (Health) where he died four hours later. A witness said she heard several shots and looked out the window to see the victim's wrecked car at the end of the street. Officers recovered nine spent rifle casings of an unknown caliber and two spent .9 mm shell casings on Mount Terrace."

Chadric Henderson, 35, was shot while trying to purchase marijuana in a house on Jeffrey Avenue in the Bethel Grove neighborhood, CrimeStoppers said. According to the organization, the nicknames of the suspects are "Carlos" and "Jesso."

"The sale quickly became a robbery, then a murder," CrimeStoppers said. "The man called Carlos pulled a .9 mm handgun and shot the victim in the chest. Henderson died at the scene."

CrimeStoppers described "Carlos" as a heavily built man in his 30s, and "Jesso" as a man with dreadlocks in his 20s.

Vanity Macklin, 33, was a Southaven resident. She was driving her Volkswagen Jetta northbound along Millbranch, near Raines Road in Whitehaven on Oct. 17, 2022. She had just picked her two sons up from basketball practice when the boys heard a gunshot.

"The boys...heard a gunshot and their mother fell across the front seat into [one of the boys'] lap," CrimeStoppers said. "She was shot in the head. Moments later the car struck a utility pole. The boys were uninjured."

Macklin died the next morning at Regional One, and the boys told police the gunfire came from another vehicle. They could not describe the vehicle, though.

Larry Thorn, a 27-year-old elementary school secretary, was shot and killed on Jan. 10 and CrimeStoppers said there is a video that "hints at Larry Thorn's last minutes alive." According to the organization, he arrived at a vacant church parking lot in the Hamilton neighborhood of South Memphis parking lot just before 1 a.m. in his Jeep Renegade.

"Eight minutes later a male suspect walked behind the church, and 45 minutes later the victim's Jeep can be seen leaving the scene," CrimeStoppers said. "After 90 minutes, at 3:03 a.m., a dark sedan carrying two people returned. Soon a small fire started and the black sedan left, heading north on Silver Avenue."

Police arrived at the scene just before 7 a.m., responding to a man-down call. CrimeStoppers said officers found Thorn's body behind the church and he had been shot and his body set on fire. Six .45-cal shell casings were found near the body, and his Jeep was found near an abandoned house, CrimeStoppers said.

Darwin Hill, a 29-year-old barber, was cutting hair in southeast Memphis. At 1:24 p.m. on Jan. 21, CrimeStoppers said shots were fired from the street and multiple bullets came into the home. One hit Hill in the torso as he was cutting someone's hair and another woman in the house, Tiare Warren, was shot in the shoulder, torso and left hand.

The person getting their hair cut and another woman in the house took Hill and Warren to Saint Francis Hospital. Hill was pronounced dead at the hospital, and Warren was airlifted to Regional One in critical condition. She survived the shooting.

CrimeStoppers said 39 shell casings, of various calibers, were found at the house. Several bullet holes were also counted in front of the house, the organization said.

Xavier Tankersley, 17, was shot while inside the Rosewood Market corner store on Lauderdale Street in South Memphis on March 5. CrimeStoppers said video from the store showed Tankersley sitting on top of an ice cream freezer, and there were at least three adults and three juveniles in the store at the time.

"Surveillance video showed two males enter the store, briefly walk by Xavier, then turn and approach him," CrimeStoppers said. "The suspects began going through his pockets. There may have been an exchange of words. The two men then walked to the door, turned and fired two shots. One hit [Tankersley] in the head and he fell to the floor. Another bullet struck the leg of someone standing nearby."

CrimeStoppers said the footage also showed the two shooters getting into an "older-model" black Nissan Altima with an unknown driver. The car went eastbound on South Orleans.

Parents of the three other kids at the market would not consent to their kids being interviewed by police out of fear of retribution, but the adults were each interviewed. Two .9 mm casings were found by police outside the market.

Akeem Brown, 17, was shot and killed on May 21 while walking to Beale Street with a group of friends. The group parked on Gayoso Avenue, near Fourth Street and "got into a verbal altercation with an unknown man driving a black Infiniti," CrimeStoppers said.

"The Infiniti, followed by a gray Nissan Altima, drove behind them slowly before occupants of the Nissan fired shots, striking Brown," CrimeStoppers said. "The two cars then fled the scene. Akeem Brown was struck in the neck and upper torso."

Brown was taken to Regional One in critical condition and later pronounced dead. Police found a .9 mm shell casing at the intersection of Fourth Street and Peabody Place.

Lucas Finton is a criminal justice 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: CrimeStoppers offering $10k rewards for some Memphis murder cases