Frayser Man Indicted in Shotgun Slaying

May 6, 2022 – A Memphis man has been indicted in the death of an acquaintance last year after they had words over the correct way to load the defendant’s sawed-off shotgun, said Shelby County Dist. Atty. Gen. Amy Weirich.

A grand jury on Thursday indicted 22-year-old Edwin Lorenzo Bailey on counts of first-degree murder, attempted first-degree murder and employment of a firearm in the commission of a dangerous felony. He is being held without bond in the Shelby County Jail.

The incident occurred around 3 a.m. on Nov. 9, 2021, in the front yard of a residence in the 1600 block of Winston Drive near North Watkins in Frayser. A resident there was waiting for his boss to arrive when Bailey, a neighbor, walked up and showed him a saw-off shotgun he was hoping to sell.

The neighbor’s boss, Richard Varnadoe, 42, drove up, joined the discussion and soon suggested Bailey shouldn’t be handling the shotgun since he apparently didn’t know how to load it properly.

As the resident turned and walked toward the side of his house, he said he heard a blast from the shotgun and saw Varnadoe fall to the ground. He said Bailey ran away briefly, but then returned and shot Varnadoe again.

Varnadoe, who was struck in the face and in the chest, was pronounced dead at the scene by paramedics. Bailey fled the city, but was arrested by federal marshals 10 days later in Detroit.

The case is being handled by Chief Prosecutor Carrie Bush of the District Attorney’s Vertical Team 4 which prosecutes cases in General Sessions Division 12 and in Criminal Court Division 4.