MEMPHIS, Tenn. — The family of Tyrone McKinney and Montrell Tate are pleading for answers after they were killed at a red light in north Memphis.
Christy Tate knows how it feels to lose a best friend.
Memphis Police say her husband, Montrell Tate, and his nephew, Tyrone McKinney, were killed in November 2018.
“He was all my children knew,” Christy said.
They pulled up to a red light at Jackson Avenue and Trezvant. That’s when detectives say someone pulled up along side them, pulled out a gun and started shooting.
They were both hit multiple times.
“They were good people. They didn’t mess with anybody. They were all about family, both of them,” Christy said.
Police say Tate and McKinney crashed into a tree after the shooting.
Paramedics rushed them to the hospital where they were both pronounced dead.
Christy was at work when she heard about the shooting.
“I left my job walking. I ran to the med to see if he was up there,” she said. “I went to speak with doctors. And they took me to a room, and they told me he didn’t make it.”
Her husband of 10 years is now gone, and his killer is still walking free.
Now Christy is left with the responsibility of raising the couple’s three children alone.
“My youngest child slept with me and my husband every night. Now that Montrell is gone, we have to take medicine to go to sleep.”
The couple’s son posted an emotional video to Facebook after hearing about his father’s murder.
In it, he said “I’m really said that my dad had to die, ’cause somebody tried to shoot another person. But they shot my dad. I’m just about to end this, because I’m going to stay strong for my family. And I’m going to do what I got to do.”
Christy says police told her not to give up hope and that they are doing all they can to find the killer.
“They took people that were good men. No robbers or killers. They took hard working men away,” she said.
If you know who killed 35-year-old Montrell Tate and 31-year-old Tyrone McKinney, you are urged to call Memphis Police at (901)-528-CASH.
All calls are confidential.
