MEMPHIS, Tenn. — A woman is facing reckless homicide charges less than two days after a 2-year-old boy was shot to death at her home.
Police say little Charvez Akins died after shots were fired Wednesday night inside a residence on Clayton Avenue in North Memphis. He was taken to Le Bonheur Children’s Hospital but did not survive.
Tatyana Taylor, 22, is in jail on multiple charges including reckless homicide with a deadly weapon, tampering with evidence and filing a false report. Court records show Taylor also lives at that home.
People in the house told officers they had been listening to music when they suddenly heard gunshots, and rushed upstairs to find Charvez struck in the chest.
Taylor told investigators that she was inside the house when someone outside fired the shots, striking the child. Police say she then changed her story, saying a 5-year-old in the house had accidentally shot Charvez while playing with a gun.
She told police she owned the gun, which was left unsecured on a nightstand in a bedroom. She took it outside and fired one shot into the house, then hid the weapon before police arrived.
Court records show Taylor pleaded guilty to a reckless endangerment charge in a 2020 incident. Police say she fired several shots at a Taco Bell on Thomas Road, where she was a manager working the drive-through.
