Man Convicted of Murder in Woman’s Death

May 31, 2022 – A southeast Memphis man who said he shot a woman in 2019 because she disrespected him has been convicted of second-degree murder, said Shelby County Dist. Atty. Gen. Amy Weirich.

A Criminal Court jury also convicted the man, Terrell Craft, 37, on three felony counts of aggravated assault. He remains in the Shelby County Jail and will be sentenced in July.

The shooting occurred the afternoon of June 14, 2019, as the victim, Corrisha Teal, 26, was unloading her car at her new apartment on Birch Lake Drive in southeast Memphis. Two relatives and a female friend were helping her.

Witnesses said Craft, who also lived in the complex, approached the group and looked at them without saying anything. The victim said something to him and began to walk away. Craft then pulled a gun and shot her four times.

Craft then pointed his gun at the three others, took a handgun from Teal’s waistband and left. He called 911 and later told police he killed the victim in self-defense and because she had disrespected him in front of the others.

Teal was taken to a hospital where she was pronounced dead from gunshot wounds to the head, back and leg.

The case was handled by Chief Prosecutor Theresa McCusker and Asst. Dist. Atty. Tanisha Johnson of the District Attorney’s Vertical Team 1 which prosecutes cases in General Sessions Division 7 (Veterans Court) and in Criminal Court Division 1.