MEMPHIS, Tenn. — Hickory Hill strip club VLive, site of two homicides and the target of neighbors’ complaints, was closed and declared a public nuisance Thursday morning.
“This business has been open for 15 months and we’ve had two homicides,” District Attorney General Amy Weirich said at a news conference announcing the closure. She said the club has been under scrutiny almost since its opening but activity heated up in the past 30 days.
The Multi Agency Gang Unit, which includes Deputies with the Shelby County Sheriff’s Office and the Memphis Police Department along with the Tennessee State Alcoholic Beverage Commission executed a Shelby County court-ordered public nuisance closure at the club.
Guns, drugs and cash were found inside, Weirich said. The Memphis Police Department has received “countless” calls from residents over activity at the club, wasting police resources, she said.
The owners, Fadi Abdallah and Jamie Hampton, are located in Detroit, she said. A hearing is set for 10:30 a.m. Tuesday, when they will be asked to show cause why the temporary closing should not become permanent.
VLive is a franchise with locations in Chicago, Atlanta and Miama, Weirich said another VLive location in Houston has already been closed.
Last June, a stray bullet fired from the parking lot of the Memphis club struck a man and killed him, Shelby County Chief Deputy Floyd Bonner said. A woman was shot in May, and another man was killed just this week. Local authorities had also conducted drug buys inside the club, he said.
Neighborhoods and four schools are located near the club, located on South Mendenhall at Winchester.
The club has been in the news several times, most recently after a local rapper, Derrick “Richlord” Harris, died after being shot in the parking lot. Police said the victim got into an argument inside the building and was shot shortly after that.
Two other victims in the shooting received non-critical injuries.
If you can help in that murder case, you are urged to call Crime Stoppers at (901) 528-CASH.
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