Memphis, TN – Shelby County District Attorney Bill Gibbons announced today that his office will seek the death penalty for the man charged with killing his former girlfriend while she was working inside a Memphis nursing home.

On September 10, 2002 the Shelby County Grand Jury indicted 41-year-old Franklin Fitch on first degree murder charges for the February 28, 2002 shooting death of Angela Carroll.

According to evidence presented at the preliminary hearing, Fitch went to Spring Gate Nursing Home, where Carroll was employed.  Fitch was escorted to Carroll’s work area, where he pulled out a gun and shot her multiple times in the stomach and back. The victim had attempted to end a relationship with Fitch, and refused to return his phone calls.

“This is a clear example of a case that warrants giving the jury the option of the death penalty,” said District Attorney Bill Gibbons. “The defendant not only took someone’s life, he created a great risk of killing many other people at the victim’s workplace,” Gibbons added.

Assistant District Attorney Lee Coffee is the prosecutor assigned to this case.

Tennessee law states a person convicted of first degree murder shall be punished by death, imprisonment for life, or imprisonment for life with possibility of parole. The first degree murder charge is covered by the District Attorney’s “No Deals” policy on violent crimes.