Two Indicted in Connection With Slaying of Couple Taking Son to Court

April 13, 2022 – A 60-year-old man has been indicted in the 2020 slaying of a Memphis couple who were killed in their driveway as they were preparing to take their son to court to testify against a man who shot him earlier that year, said Shelby County Dist. Atty. Gen. Amy Weirich.

The grand jury indicted Jaja Mani, aka Curtis Gouldin, on two counts of first-degree murder and one count of attempted first-degree murder. A second man, Troy Clay, 44, was indicted on a count of coercion of a witness.

A third suspect in the case is being sought. Anyone with information is asked to call Memphis CrimeStoppers at 528-CASH.

The shooting occurred around 8:30 a.m. on Nov. 12, 2020, when Emmanuel Macdonal Sr., 39, and his wife, Nancy Macdonal, 42, were preparing to take their 20-year-old son to court at 201 Poplar to testify against a man who shot him five months earlier, leaving him disabled.

The parents were found dead from multiple gunshot wounds in the driveway of their home in the 1500 block of Patterson Street. Their son, who was in the back seat of their car, was seriously wounded, but survived.

Investigators said Mani and Clay are believed to be the same men who came to the couple’s home 10 days earlier and offered them $10,000 if their son did not testify against Kevin Gomez, 20, the man charged with shooting him in the head in June of 2020.

Then, a day before the driveway shooting, Mani was seen on home surveillance video walking up to the couple’s front door and leaving an envelope containing $1,000, a lawyer’s business card, and a note that said “Contact this (sic) let them know you were mistaken and can’t be responsible for an innocent person going to jail. Rest to come! Emmanuel.”

Mani and Clay were arrested later that day at an apartment in Hickory Hill.

The case is being handled by Asst. Dist. Atty. Abby Wallace of the District Attorney’s Special Prosecution Unit 8 which seeks maximum sentencing for repeat felony offenders and by Chief Prosecutor Carla Taylor of the District Attorney’s Vertical Team 6 which prosecutes cases in General Sessions Division 15 and in Criminal Court Division 10.