Friend of Victim Indicted in Fatal Shooting

Nov. 4, 2021 – A Whitehaven man whose AR-15 style rifle discharged as he was handing it to a friend barrel first has been indicted on felony homicide charges, said Shelby County Dist. Atty. Gen. Amy Weirich.

    A grand jury indicted Deuntavious Smith on a count of reckless homicide. He is free on $25,000 bond.

    Investigators said the incident occurred at 11:40 p.m. on April 26 this year in the parking lot of a Whitehaven apartment complex in the 5000 block of Village Wood Drive.

    Smith told officers he was seated in the driver’s seat of his car and was handing his rifle to a friend, Gary Cheatham Jr., 28, of Horn Lake, Miss. He said that when Cheatham was taking the rifle it discharged, striking Cheatham in the chest.

    He was pronounced dead at the scene.

    The case is being handled by Felony Asst. Ryan Thompson of the District Attorney’s Vertical Team 5 which prosecutes cases in General Sessions Division 13 and in Criminal Court Division 9.