Man Indicted in Woman’s Shotgun Slaying

Sept. 18, 2020 – A southeast Memphis man has been indicted on first-degree murder charges in the shooting death of a 66-year-old woman this summer following an argument, said Shelby County Dist. Atty. Gen. Amy Weirich.

Defendant James Turner, 59, is being held without bond.

He is under indictment for shooting acquaintance Patricia Cole in the head with a shotgun during an argument the afternoon of June 20, 2020, in the bedroom of a home in the 1600 block of Ellsworth St. near South Highland and Sharpe Avenue.

The case is being handled by Chief Prosecutor Greg Gilbert and Asst. Dist. Atty. Venecia Patterson of the District Attorney’s Domestic Violence Unit which handles cases of domestic assault and homicide committed by intimate partners.