(Memphis) When Justin Thompson’s mother heard her son’s killer would not face any charges she went looking for answers. Friday the Shelby County District Attorney General Amy Weirich said she was not taking the case to the Grand Jury. She said there was not enough evidence to move forward.
Shirley Thompson, Justin’s mother, went to see her.
“She said she was sorry that it happen and basically she couldn’t tell me anything,” Thompson said.
In a thirty minute meeting with Weirich, Thompson said the D.A. couldn’t answer any of her questions about the night her son was killed.
“I asked her what was Terrance Shaw doing in our neighborhood riding around with a gun in his car and he was off-duty she couldn’t answer that,” she said.
Thompson believes the answer is in the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation’s report on the shooting.
But that report is secret to the public. Under state law, it does not have to be released. Thompson doesn’t think that’s right.
“We can’t get the facts but I’ve been trying to find the facts for four months,” she said.
So without those facts she’s relying on witnesses she has talked to.
“They seen my son get in the car with him and I’m thinking there’s some kind of drug deal or something and they got out and that when Terrance Shaw made shots. I do believe that’s what happened.”
She wonders if the truth will ever be revealed since the TBI report most likely never will be.
“When T.B.I. does an investigation it’s a sealed investigation,” Memphis Police Director Toney Armstrong said.
Armstrong said he has not seen the report but trusts the process.
“There was an independent investigation done by TBI. I’m confident they conducted a thorough and impartial investigation and now we have the findings of that and I respect that,” he said.
He says as far as he’s concerned after the shooting is now considered justifiable.
But Thompson isn’t giving up yet on getting justice for Justin.
“The case is not closed not with me,” she said.
Shaw remains on paid leave with the police department. He will have an administrative hearing to determine what’s next for him with the department in the coming days.
