MEMPHIS, Tenn. — Gregory Livingston has been indicted by a grand jury with first-degree murder in the killing of a Chicago man over loud music at an East Memphis Kroger.
Livingston was initially charged with second-degree murder but after gathering additional evidence, including a surveillance video, the jury indicted him on a first-degree murder charge.
Livingston was working as a security guard at the Kroger Fuel Center on Poplar and Kirby when he fatally shot Alvin Motley in the parking lot after an argument over loud music on Aug. 7th.
Livingston, who was a former police officer in Horn Lake from 1998 to 2001, had just became a security guard two weeks prior to the shooting.
A witness told police the incident started as Livingston and Motley argued over the volume of music coming from their car. The witness said she told Motley to come back to the car, but he then exited the car and told Livingston they should “talk like men.”
Memphis Police confirmed Livingston approached officers when they arrived on the scene and told them he shot a man.
NAACP Memphis Branch President Van Turner reacted to the first degree murder indictment of former Kroger security guard.
“We were always taught murder two is a crime of passion. You didn’t go to a place suspecting to murder someone but because of circumstances things happen and it was sort of like a knee-jerk thing. In this instance I think there was plenty enough time for the security officer Livingston to walk away, he had been trained as an officer, he had been trained on de-escalating situations,” Turner said. “It’s up to the state to push the case forward and of course it has to go to the real jury that will hopefully convict Mr. Livingston.”
Family members say Motley was visiting Memphis from Chicago for business and had several projects in the works prior to his death.
Livingston was held in Shelby County Jail on a $1.8 million bond since his arrest in August.