MEMPHIS, Tenn. — One of the men accused of shooting and killing Phil Trenary, CEO of The Memphis Chamber of Commerce, faced a judge Monday morning.
Quandarius Richardson’s aunt, Keisha Patterson, was there as he was arraigned on multiple charges, including theft and evading arrest.
“He’s still a child that has just beginning life. He just turned 18. He’s just beginning life,” she said. “Only we can do about this situation is to pray for the situation. For the Trenary family and our family.”
Police say he and his friend, Shymontre Anthony Reed, led them on a high-speed chase from Frayser into South Memphis Friday morning that ended in a fiery crash and multiple injuries.
Police say, Richardson was driving a stolen white pick-up that fits the description of the same truck officers say he was in when he killed Trenary.
“We don’t know if these charges are real. We don’t know if someone planted them. We don’t know,” said Patterson. “Maybe my nephew got with the wrong group of people. Maybe someone influenced it.”
Police also charged two more in the murder 16-year-old Racanisha Wright and her cousin, 22-year-old Mckinney Wright. Their family was also in court.
“I haven’t talked to him. I haven’t got a chance to see him. They haven’t given me a chance to see them,” said McKinney Stevenson, McKinney Wright’s father.
McKinney Wright’s aunt, Freddie Ball, says she also doesn’t know what to believe. Court records show Wright was out on bond for another drug charge.
“Every time he gets in trouble, it’s with someone trying to badly influence him,”said Ball.
She said her nephew is on disability for mental challenges.
“He is 22, but has the mind of a 14-year-old,” she said. “He was raised in the church. He was raised to love human life. We are just trying to find out what happened.”
McKinney and Richardson are set to be back in court Tuesday morning for the first-degree murder charges.
The 16-year-old also made her first appearance in Juvenile Court on Monday.
