A Church Deacon Had the Power Cut to His Memphis Home. When He Went to Check What Happened, He Was Shot Dead.

A church deacon had the power cut to his house. When he went outside to check out what happened, he surprised would-be robbers and was shot dead.

Nearly eight years later, police still don’t have answers to the cold-case murder.

On June 27, 2016, Andre Jones was at his home in the 440 block of Longtreee Street in the Northwood Hills neighborhood of Memphis, Tennessee. He was getting ready to go to work as a Shelby County Vector Control employee when the power went out, according to Memphis CrimeStoppers.

When he exited his house, he surprised the burglary suspects.

There was a short struggle and Jones was shot, authorities said. He died as he tried to stumble to a neighbor’s house for help.

There were other burglaries in Shelby County in which power was turned off first to disable security systems, authorities said. Investigators described Jones’ killing as a robbery gone wrong.

Police have investigated but have not made any arrests. Anyone with information on the cold case is urged to contact the police at (901) 528-CASH.

A year after his death, Jones' family spoke to WMC about the case.

"I want closure," Jones' mom Vergie Nelson told WMC. "My family wants closure."

Jones was a deacon at his church and was engaged to be married. His family had gone door-to-door hoping to find answers. But had no luck.

"He was the greatest person in the world because he was a product of me," Nelson said, according to the station.

At that time, the family hoped for more leads in the case and believed the killer would be caught one day. That day just hasn’t come, and Nelson had a message for her son’s murderer.

"I pray to God that they would have a conscience because if they have one, Lord knows they would tell somebody and somebody would tell somebody," she told the outlet.