Three teenagers and two adults have been charged in the fatal shooting of a 16-year-old boy during a funeral procession for a teen homicide victim in Memphis, Tennessee.
A grand jury handed down five indictments on charges including first-degree murder and attempted murder in the shooting death of Emmit Beasley, the Shelby County district attorney’s office said in a statement Monday.
Beasley took part in a crowded funeral procession on a north Memphis street on Oct. 23, authorities said. The funeral was for Je’Marco Smith, 16, who was fatally shot weeks earlier, authorities said.
Five people attacked Beasley and another 16-year-old boy from behind during the procession, knocking them down and shooting them each at least eight times, police said. The other boy who was shot ran away and collapsed in a nearby vacant lot. He was critically wounded but survived, authorities said.
The ages of those indicted are 15, 16, 17, 18 and 23, authorities said. Prosecutors say the five are gang members.