A man has been sentenced to jail for a lifetime in Tennessee. He was found guilty of killing 5 in separate incidents across Tennessee.
Jackson Police Department officers responded to a shooting incident between Middleton and Neff Street in Jackson, Tennessee, where a Nissan Sentra had crashed into the sidewalk and embankment on September 25, 2019. An unresponsive driver with a gunshot wound to the head was found. Police found a second victim with comparable gunshot wounds fleeing the vehicle.
After recovering, the second victim identified twenty-one-year-old Jackson resident Keenan Antonio Murphy as the shooter who shot him and the driver in the back of the car. Police searched for Murphy but found no suspect. The driver died from injuries.
A concerned local mother filed a missing person complaint with JPD after her son did not answer her calls or texts for 24 hours. Missing young man’s search was futile. The victim was last seen alive with Keenan Murphy as they drove away from 32 Greenview Drive in the victim’s car.
JPD responded to another gunshot at 55 Wyndelake Cove in Jackson on October 4, 2019. At Fairway Blvd. and Winding Creek, they found a white Crown Victoria. As with the first shooting, officers found a dead driver with a gunshot to the head. A second shooting victim with back and hand wounds fled the scene. The second victim said Murphy shot him and the driver from the back of the car. The surviving victim described Murphy, and officers searched for him.
Later that morning, officers saw Murphy wandering along North Highland Avenue and Old Humboldt Road. Murphy was arrested in witness-matched clothing. Murphy’s slide-locked.40-caliber Glock handgun was found by police.
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Murphy admitted to the September 25th and October 4th massacres, saying he shot the victims in the rear of the cars as the surviving victims described. Murphy verified that he was the only owner of that pistol from September 25 to October 4, 2019. Murphy’s confession was confirmed by forensic firearms testing of his gun and both shootings’ bullet casings. The microscopic examination proved the weapon was used in both shootings.
A Madison County Grand Jury indicted Keenan Antonio Murphy for the September 25 and October 4, 2019 shootings on June 1, 2020. The Grand Jury indicted Murphy for First Degree Murder, Attempted First Degree Murder, Aggravated Assault, and Firearm Use During a Dangerous Felony in each case.
A Jackson resident called the police on August 29, 2021, after seeing a vehicle in a Howeston Mill Subdivision community pond. The automobile was rescued from the pond by divers. Investigators found the remains of the boy reported missing by his mother on September 28, 2019. Officers found several.40-caliber round casings in the vehicle. The round casings and Murphy’s weapon were matched by a forensic firearms examiner.
Tennessee Assistant District Attorneys Bradley Champine and Alfred Earls tried Keenan Murphy for the September 2019 murder on December 15, 2021. At trial, Murphy used expert testimony to argue that he committed the shooting due to a “manic episode” and lacked the capacity to premeditate. Murphy was found guilty on all charges on December 17, 2021. Murphy was sentenced to life in prison for the victim who died from his wounds and 26 years for the attempted murder of the second victim on February 23, 2022.
The Madison County Grand Jury indicted Keenan Antonio Murphy for First Degree Murder in the September 2019 death of the missing man on February 28, 2022.
Keenan Murphy pleaded guilty to the remaining indictments on May 29, 2024. He was sentenced to Life without Parole and remanded to the Tennessee Department of Correction for the rest of his life under the plea agreement.
