Background: The apartment building in Memphis, Tennessee, where the victim died (Google Maps). Inset: Cedric Conley (Shelby County Sheriff's Office).
An 8-year-old girl was standing in the kitchen of a Tennessee home while her grandmother made dinner when suddenly she was shot dead by a man aiming at a group of people outside.
Cedric Conley, 47, has been convicted by a jury of charges including reckless homicide in the death of Jordyn Washington, as well as criminal attempt at voluntary manslaughter, reckless endangerment with a deadly weapon, and employing a firearm during the commission of a dangerous felony, the Shelby County District Attorney's Office announced this week.
The case traces back nearly six years.
On Nov. 22, 2020, Jordyn was inside her grandmother's apartment on Shelbourne Circle in Memphis, Tennessee. The young girl was "in the kitchen, where her grandmother was preparing dinner," the DA's office said.
At the same time, a group of people was in the parking lot of the same apartment complex, as one of them "was attempting to rekey" a 2017 Chevrolet Camaro belonging to another one of them, according to an affidavit of complaint obtained by Law&Crime. At some point, Conley showed up.
The defendant "was involved in a dispute" with them in the parking lot, and one of the individuals was "a former girlfriend," authorities noted. As the argument went on, Conley went into a different apartment, "retrieved an assault rifle," and "began shooting the weapon" at the group.
The grandmother making dinner suddenly "heard gunshots and then saw" her granddaughter "fall to the floor." The woman could see "blood coming from" the girl's head, the court document stated.
The Memphis Police Department and first responders were called to the scene. Jordyn was pronounced dead.
It was at this point that officers also got a call from another part of the complex — where the group interested in the Camaro was. The group told officers what had happened.
Conley, however, was nowhere to be found. He was placed on the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation's "Most Wanted" list, and about two weeks later, he was arrested in New Orleans, Louisiana, before being extradited to Memphis.
The people whom Conley shot at and a witness positively identified him in a photo lineup as the person who fired the assault rifle that day, police noted.
The defendant was originally charged with first-degree murder in the perpetration of a felony in Jordyn's death. He is scheduled to be sentenced on Sept. 24.
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