Three people were found dead in a Fox Meadows apartment complex Thursday in what is being investigated as a possible double murder and suicide.
If that turns out to be the case, it will be the second murder-suicide in Memphis this week. On Monday night in Whitehaven, police say, 83-year-old Reginald Maclin shot and killed his wife, Thelma, also 83. He then turned the gun on himself, dying later in the hospital.
On Thursday, police discovered the bodies of a man and two women in an apartment of the Eden at Watersedge complex just off Mendenhall near Mt. Moriah. They had been asked to check on the welfare of people in the apartment. All had been shot.
After police made the discovery and word spread, numerous family members of the victims showed up, shivering in the freezing temperatures as they waited on word about their loved ones. The complex has several units that back up to a pond, and geese could be seen throughout the complex Thursday.
Two people at the scene identified the dead women as Leah Bumpus and Christual Johnson. The suspect in the deaths was identified as Terry “T.J.” Barnes.
Leah “was a sweet girl,” said Melissa Howard, adding that her cousin was dating Terry. “She did what she had to do to take care of her kids.”
A couple who lives next door to the killing scene said they were at home around 8 p.m. Wednesday when they heard a ruckus through the wall.
“We heard a commotion last night. It sounded like people were fighting,” said Sherilyn Hunt. “We heard stuff like that all the time.”
Hunt added that something hit the wall during the commotion.
“It was so hard our couch moved,” she said.
Hunt added an interesting detail. She and her boyfriend said that, around 1 p.m. Thursday, Terry posted a photo on Instagram showing that he was getting a pedicure. Hunt believes the fight Wednesday night led to the deaths of the women. She believes Terry was still alive after their deaths, then went out for the pedicure Thursday. Afterward, Hunt believes, he came back to the apartment and killed himself.
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