MEMPHIS, Tenn. — Two men were arrested in connection with an East Memphis shooting that left a man and woman dead and their son critically injured last month.
Police said the shooting happened after the two men allegedly offered the victims $10,000 to not testify in a June 2020 shooting case in which their son was shot in the head. A man named Kevin Gomez was charged with attempted second-degree murder in that case.
Police say on Nov. 12, Emmanuel and Nancy MacDonal were found dead next to their Ford Explorer on Patterson Street, and their son Emmanuel Jr. was found critically wounded in the back seat.
Jaja Mani is charged with two counts of first-degree murder, one count of attempted murder and coercion of a witness. A second man, Troy Clay, is charged with coercion of a witness.
Police said Mani and Clay went to the MacDonal family’s home on Patterson on Nov. 2, offering them money to not show up to court. They were driving a Dodge Journey.
On Nov. 11, police say Mani can be seen on surveillance video walking up to the door of the home and leaving an envelope. The envelope allegedly contained $1,000, a lawyer’s business card and a note that read, “Contact this let them know you were mistaken and can’t be responsible for a innocent person going to jail,” according to records.
The next day, police said a yellow Mini Cooper driven by a man matching Mani’s description was seen driving past the house and stopping in a nearby driveway, in concert with a white van. After 30 minutes, police said, the person in the white van drove up to the victims and shot them in their driveway.
The person police name as the shooter in that van does not appear to be in Shelby County Jail custody or listed in court records.
MacDonal Jr., who survived the shooting, picked Mani from a photo lineup. Police say they found him and Clay at an apartment on Ridgeway, inside a Dodge Journey. They also found a yellow Mini Cooper.
The men are in the Shelby County Jail. No bail has been set.
