Six months after his death, four men have been indicted for the murder of University of Memphis football player Taylor Bradford.
Shelby County District Attorney Bill Gibbons announced Thursday that Courtney Washington, 23, Victor Trezevant, 21, Daeshawn Tate, 22, and Devin Jefferson, 21, have all been indicted for first degree murder in the perpetration of attempted murder.
On Sept. 30, 2007 at approximately 9:30 p.m., Bradford, 21, was shot and killed while inside his vehicle on Tiger Paw East, located on campus. The Shelby County Medical Examiner's Office declared Bradford's death a homicide.
The four men were arrested on Oct. 7, 2007. Each defendant is being held on a $1 million bond in the Shelby County Jail. Attorney Gregory Carman said there is a possibility the trial could take a while to be set.
"Cases such as this won't be set for quite some time," Carman said. "When you have multiple co-defendants then you have multiple issues with multiple attorneys."
Carman said he once had a murder case that took up to three years. He said because of his experience with such cases, he couldn't estimate a date the court might decide to go to trial.
Assistant District Attorneys Reggie Henderson and Ray Lepone are prosecuting the case. First-degree murder carries a punishment of life in prison with a possibility of parole after 51 years, life in prison without parole or death. The charge does not allow a defendant to make plea bargains due its "No Deals" policy on violent crimes. There are no exceptions to the policy except for legal or ethical reasons.
