MEMPHIS, Tenn. — A Murfreesboro man pleaded guilty to second-degree murder Tuesday in a college student’s slaying that stunned Memphis in 1994.
Phanhsay Phanivong, 41, was sentenced to 15 years in prison in the murder of 23-year-old Angela Perkins, Shelby County Dist. Atty. Amy Weirich said Tuesday.
Perkins was shot to death during a robbery attempt in the early-morning hours of Valentine’s Day 1994, near Mendenhall and Spottswood in East Memphis as she was driving home from work at Newby’s on Highland.
The case went unsolved for years, but in 2014 a man serving prison time in Texas for an unrelated homicide told Memphis cold-case police detectives that Phanivong and another man were responsible for Perkins’ death.
Phanivong, also known as “Kapoo,” has been in jail for nearly five years, though under the law in effect at the time of the crime he is eligible for parole since he has served 30 percent of his sentence, Weirich said. He will serve the remaining 10 years of his sentence under the supervision of the Community Corrections Program which diverts felony offenders from the prison system while providing supervision to reduce future criminal behavior.
The second man, Sathit Ep, 40, also is charged with felony murder in the case. He is free on $25,000 bond.