MEMPHIS, Tenn. — We’re learning more about the woman who was found dead outside City Hall this week and the facility she was said to be staying at.
Police said Shelley Thompson, 44, was reported missing Tuesday afternoon. She was staying in a home care facility on Lucy Avenue that she walked away from.
Thompson was then found dead Wednesday morning near City Hall about 3.5 miles away.
Stanley Harris, another resident at the home care facility, said it was upsetting to hear about her death.
“She was a very spiritual person,” he said.
Related: Woman found dead in front of City Hall
Authorities said there were no signs of foul play and that weather may have played a role in her death.
“She left in some sort of disagreement with the other people who live in the home and unfortunately, it was so cold last night,” said Mayor Jim Strickland.
Harris said Thompson was very intelligent and from New York. He met her when they both ended up at the home care facility.
“This is a psychiatric care home and she was on medication,” said Harris.
Harris said Taylor Brown Garden Healthcare LLC runs a handful of houses on Lucy Avenue where residents stay.
“Anyone who’s disenfranchised, poor, doesn’t have anywhere to go.”
Records show they’re a licensed business through the state.
No one came to the door where Thompson was staying and the person who answered the phone for the business hung up on us.
“This is a good care home, but it can use some improvement.”
Harris said about 20 people currently stay in the houses, where they’re fed and receive therapeutic treatment.
He said he hates Thompson left the way she did but hopes her memory lives on.
“I hope that her soul’s in a better place.”
