Tennessee Teenager Accused Of Fatally Shooting Man, Claiming Death Was Suicide, Police Say

A teenager is accused of shooting a man after a heated dispute last spring and claiming the alleged victim killed himself, authorities in Tennessee said.

On July 12, Memphis police took Ladarius Bonds, 19, into custody and charged him with the first-degree murder of Joshua Perry, WMC reported.

According to investigators, on April 2, officers responding to a report of a shooting at the Economy Hotel found Perry in a stairwell suffering a gunshot wound to his head.

Perry died from his injuries four days later, and Bonds allegedly told detectives Perry fired the fatal shot himself.

Based on the location of the wound, however, a medical examiner determined his death was a homicide and not suicide from a self-inflicted gunshot.

Police said they also determined the shot that killed Perry was not fired at close range.

Earlier on the day of the shooting, investigators learned, Bonds and Perry got into a fight.

The victim’s mother told police the two men left their room after she asked them to get groceries, but Bonds returned less than a minute later and claimed her son had just attempted suicide and shot himself.