The manhunt for a Tennessee man accused of killing four and critically injuring one is over after police found him dead Sunday morning. MPD also identified the adult victims who were killed.
Memphis police said at 3:31 a.m. on Sunday, November 19, 2023, they found the body of 52-year-old Mavis Christian Jr. Investigators say it appears he died from a self-inflicted gunshot wound inside a white Chevrolet Malibu in the 3000 block of Alta Road.
MPD said the shootings happened Saturday, November 18 at several locations across Memphis. Three women and a teen were all killed and another teen girl injured.
- 5:43 p.m. – 3636 Field Lark Drive – 35-year-old Lateisha Bobo and 13-year-old Tori Christian was killed. A 15-year-old is critical but stable.
- 6:40 p.m. – 5050 Warrington Road – 56-year-old Ruby Manuel was killed.
- 9:22 p.m. – 196 Howard Drive – 44-year-old Tawanda Christian was killed.
Memphis police warned the public late Saturday night to stay safe after Mavis Christian Jr. was named a suspect in the deadly shootings across the city. City leaders issued a mass text and phone call alert around midnight Sunday as the Memphis Police Department (MPD) searched for the gunman.
Police said Mavis Christian Jr. was a family member of the shooting victims and fled each scene in a white 2017 Chevrolet Malibu with Tennessee tag number 390-BHTM.
MPD said that multiple agencies helped with the search for Mavis Christian Jr. including local, state and federal law enforcement.
“This outta be an awakening to all of us as citizens of Memphis,” said Rev. Walter Womack, who preaches at Faithful Baptist Church, around the corner from Alta Road.
The Tennessee Department of Corrections has confirmed that Mavis Christian Jr. was arrested in 2018 and sent to prison for assaulting his wife and their children. He was released in 2020, according to the Tennessee Department of Corrections.
Selise Manuel is still processing the loss of her mother, Ruby Manuel, her sister, Lateisha Bobo, and her niece, Tori.
As the Memphis Police Department investigated the shooting spree, they connected them all to her uncle, Mavis Christian Jr.
“He threatened my mother a few times before and my sister a few times, but we didn’t think much of it even though we should have because he went to jail for attempted murder,” Manuel said.
The attempted murder charge Manuel mentioned stems from charges back in 2007, including two counts of aggravated assault. In that case, all charges were dismissed.
Before that, Mavis Christian Jr. was familiar to Shelby County deputies. In 2004, he appeared in court for domestic assault.
Five years ago, officers were called to a home on Howard Drive in Whitehaven after Mavis Christian Jr. beat his estranged wife with a bat and attacked their daughter.
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