Five Indicted in Shooting at Funeral

May 30, 2022 – Five alleged gang members, including a 15 year old, were indicted Tuesday for shooting two other teens during a crowded funeral procession for another homicide victim last year in North Memphis, said Shelby County Dist. Atty. Gen. Amy Weirich.

One of the victims was killed, while the other was critically wounded.

A grand jury on Tuesday indicted David Lee Jr., 23, Rico Lee Jr., 18, Jaden Rios, 16, Tavion Rogers, 17, and Tremayne Scales Jr., 15.

They were indicted on counts of first-degree murder, attempted first-degree murder, and employment of a firearm in the commission of a dangerous felony. David Lee Jr. also was indicted as a convicted felon in possession of a handgun. He is held in the Shelby County Jail on $350,000 bond. The four other defendants have posted bonds set by a judge.

The shootings occurred around 4 p.m. on Oct. 23, 2021, as a funeral procession was moving along the 2100 block of Hunter Avenue in North Memphis. The funeral was for 16-year-old Je’Marco Smith who was shot and killed several weeks earlier in Raleigh. Three men have been charged in that case.

During the procession, police investigators said, the five defendants attacked the two victims from behind, knocking them down and shooting them each at least eight times.

Emmit Beasley, 16, was killed, while the other victim, also 16, managed to run a short distance before collapsing in a nearby vacant lot. He was critically injured, but survived his wounds.

The case is being handled by Asst. Dist. Atty. Joey Griffith of the District Attorney’s Crime Strategies & Narcotics Prosecution Unit which prosecutes cases in General Sessions Division 8 (Drug Court) and in Criminal Court Division 6.