MEMPHIS, Tenn. — The District Attorney’s Office has deemed that an officer-involved shooting that led to the death of 19-year-old Keyshon Parham in October 2018 involved no criminal wrongdoing on the part of the officers.
Parham was wanted on multiple felony warrants, including attempted first-degree murder, aggravated assaults, motor vehicle thefts and intentionally evading arrest in a vehicle. One of those was issued by the Memphis Police Department following a triple shooting on the interstate on October 9.
According to information provided by authorities, the Memphis Police Department and Shelby County Sheriff’s Office had been searching for Parham and just received information that he was possibly at the Eden at Watersedge Apartment complex in Fox Meadows.
Parham reportedly jumped from a window to elude officers and at one point yelled, “I ain’t going back to jail. You’ll have to kill me.”
A sheriff’s deputy was eventually shot in the leg when he was involved in a struggle with Parham over the law enforcement officer’s gun. As officers tried to subdue Parham, one officer allegedly shot him in the thigh while another was shot in the backside.
“The facts, the evidence and the law show that they used a reasonable and necessary amount of force to defend their lives and those of fellow officers,” said District Attorney Amy Weirich.
More information on the case can be found here.
