MEMPHIS, Tenn. — Four days after he was shot and killed by an off-duty police officer, Luis Soto’s body has been turned over to his family.
“We just need the truth. Whatever it looks like, the truth of God it sets free,” said family member Matt Watson.
Yet they are no closer to finding out why Luis Soto died than they were Sunday night, when he was shot by off-duty Memphis Police Officer Marshall Smith.
It happened as Soto was meeting his ex-wife to drop off his 4-year-old daughter, a meeting Soto’s family told WREG was strange in itself.
“Why he was asked to go to the gas station to do the exchange. That never happens. She always comes after work to pick the little girl up here,” Sandy Soto, Luis Soto’s sister, told us Monday.
It’s one of the things Attorney Claiborne Ferguson, just hired by Soto’s family, plans to look into.
He wants to know why the off-duty officer, who happens to be Soto’s ex-wife’s fiancée, was even there.
“As far I can tell he had no problem with the exchange of the children until the point an off-duty officer showed up with a gun,” said Ferguson.
The TBI is investigating the case since Memphis Police are involved.
The Soto family said they met with TBI Thursday evening.
All TBI findings will go to the District Attorney.
“Currently we are trying to find witnesses, running down some leads that we believe the TBI has not been able to locate yet,” said Ferguson.
Luis Soto’s family told us his death certificate shows he died of multiple gun shot wounds.
They are awaiting the autopsy and the TBI report.
“Their main interest is to find out the truth and make sure this doesn’t happen to another family,” Ferguson said.
The Soto family told us shortly after the shooting they heard the name of the officer was Marshall, but they said they did not know anything about him or his relationship with Luis Soto’s ex-wife.
Meanwhile, Luis Soto’s funeral is Friday, April 15, 2016 at 4:00 at Serenity Funeral Home.
Burial will follow at Forest Hill cemetery on Whitten Road.
