MEMPHIS, Tenn. — One family is sharing their story with the hope it will lead to an arrest in their loved one’s death.
Police say someone found a woman shot to death last Friday on Cypress Road.
Friends and family identified the victim as Terita Smith. They say she was shot several times and left to die in her car.
“Right now, it’s hard because nobody knows anything and that’s the worst part about this whole situation,” said the victim’s father, Major Cook.
Friday her friends came back to where she was last seen, praying someone would share what they saw and thinking of a woman who brought joy to so many.
“We want to catch the person who did this,” said friend Nicole Johnson. “Terita was loved my many people. She was everything to her daughter.”
Smith is one of at least 18 people killed in the first two weeks of the year.
“When they come back-to-back-to back and you’re out 10-12, 14-16-hours a day, you might get to go home two or three hours and here comes another one. Yeah, it takes a toll on you,” said Lt. Webb Kirkdoffer with the Memphis Police Department.
Even with the long days, one of the biggest challenges for investigators is silence.
“The information they give could be that last piece to arrest somebody and get closure for the family, and really it’s closure for the community as a whole because we’re getting a murderer off the streets,” Kirkdoffer said.
Which is why Terita Smith’s family hope someone does the right thing.
“Quit being a coward. Since you had the guts to do it take care of your business,” Cook said.
Police are urging anyone with information about Smith’s death or anyone else to call Crime Stoppers at 901-528-CASH.
Smith’s family plans to honor her at a vigil Monday night.
