Morningside Apartment Shooter Sentenced to Serve Thirty Years

Prosecutors in DA Charme Allen’s Career Gang Unit obtained a thirty-year sentence for a defendant who shot at two victims at Morningside Apartments. Shaquil Malik Talib Murphy, 28, was convicted of Attempted First Degree Murder, Attempted Second Degree Murder, two counts of Aggravated Assault, and two counts of Employing a Firearm During the Commission of a Dangerous Felony. Judge Steve Sword sentenced Murphy to serve a total of thirty years in the Tennessee Department of Correction.

At trial in September, Assistant District Attorneys Heather Good and TaKisha Fitzgerald explained to the jury that on August 29, 2019, Knoxville Police Department officers responded to a shooting at Morningside Apartments. At the scene, officers spoke to victim Shane Garner who stated that he had been with Murphy earlier in the day. The two got into an argument, and Garner went to Morningside. Murphy then retrieved two revolvers that he had purchased from a teenager in exchange for methamphetamine. Murphy went to the crowded apartment complex and started firing at Garner. Garner ran through the complex toward victim Howard Crowe who is the maintenance supervisor for the apartments. Murphy fired at Crowe, striking his work truck twice. Fearing for his life and the lives of other residents in the area, Crowe grabbed his personal firearm and fired at Murphy, striking him three times. Murphy fled the scene but was apprehended shortly thereafter.

“We were successful in this case because of the cooperation of witnesses in the community who came forward to hold this shooter accountable,” said DA Charme Allen.

If you have any questions, please contact Sean McDermott at 865-215-2515 or Sean.McDermott@knoxcounty.org. For more information about the District Attorney’s Office, visit our website at dag.knoxcountytn.gov and follow us on Facebook and Twitter.