First Of Defendant Trio Found Guilty of Murder

July 16, 2021 – A 21-year-old man was convicted Friday in a 2018 case in which two cousins were shot, one of them fatally, while trailing suspected car thieves in southeast Memphis, said Shelby County Dist. Atty. Gen. Amy Weirich.

A Criminal Court jury found Demerrick Porter guilty, as charged, of second-degree murder, attempted second-degree murder and employment of a firearm in the commission of a dangerous felony. He is scheduled to be sentenced August 13 by Judge Paula Skahan.

The incident occurred on March 28, 2018, in the 4500 block of Cognac Cove near Riverdale Road and East Shelby Drive where Christopher Smith, 24, and his 23-year-old cousin had followed another vehicle.

The cousins suspected the three men in the vehicle had possibly stolen a car earlier and had been following them in the area. The suspects’ vehicle suddenly stopped in the cove, and three men came out firing guns.

Smith the driver was struck by multiple gunshots and was pronounced dead at the scene. His cousin was shot in the leg and hobbled away to call for help.

Porter and two companions were identified as the shooters and were arrested in the weeks following the shooting. The two codefendants – Jaelen Bell, 22, and Christian Key, 20 – are awaiting separate trials.

The trial was handled by Asst. Dist. Attys. Steve Ragland and Jen Morris of the District Attorney’s Crime Strategies & Narcotics Prosecution Unit which handles cases involving gang members and violent crimes, including homicides, aggravated robberies, kidnappings, rapes, and narcotics trafficking.