Shooting at Frayser Apartments Leads to Murder Indictment

Feb. 19, 2022 – An argument between two women that escalated into a fight last year ended abruptly when their boyfriends intervened and exchanged gunfire, leaving one of the boyfriends dead, said Shelby County Dist. Atty. Gen. Amy Weirich.

On Thursday a grand jury indicted 25-year-old Jaydevin Benson on one count of second-degree murder, three counts of attempted second-degree murder, and three counts of employment of a firearm in the commission of a dangerous felony. He is being held on $250,000 bond.

Investigators said the shooting occurred on the afternoon of Oct. 5, 2021, at the Ridgecrest Apartments on Rangeline Road in Frayser. Two women, ages 29 and 26, got into an argument that turned physical.

One woman’s boyfriend, Amise Gales, tried to intervene and moments later Benson stepped out of his nearby apartment with a handgun and began shooting in his direction. Also nearby was the one-year-old baby of one of the women and the baby’s grandmother.

Gales returned fire. He was struck in the chest and then got into his car to drive away. The car struck an iron gate at the apartment’s entrance and hit a tree. Gales, 24, was pronounced dead at the scene.

The case is being handled by Chief Prosecutor Carrie Bush and by Asst. Dist. Atty. Gen. Chris Whitten of the District Attorney’s Vertical Team 4 which handles cases in General Sessions Division 12 and in Criminal Court Division 4.