The search ended for the third suspect in a fatal shooting outside a Nashville bar with the arrest of 18-year-old Tyler Phan, according to Metro Nashville Police. Phan was wanted for the death of a security guard at Illuzion Bar & Lounge on Murfreesboro Pike and has now been charged with criminal homicide and vehicle burglary.
Phan, taken into custody and booked at Juvenile Court due to being 17 at the time of the crime, is implicated in the incident that left Maurice Thomas Jr., 33, dead after he reportedly confronted the individuals breaking into cars outside the nightlife venue. Surveillance footage linked a maroon Chevrolet Cruze, connected to 19-year-old suspect Isaiah Moore, to the scene, where bullet casings and shattered glass told of the deadly confrontation, according to WKRN.
The early morning violence that occurred on March 17 resulted in Thomas being shot multiple times. He was rushed to Vanderbilt University Medical Center where he later succumbed to his injuries. Alongside Phan, the two other suspects, Moore and 18-year-old Quinton Sullivan, were previously arrested in connection with the car burglaries and subsequent shooting.
Reports from the crime scene indicated that three vehicles were burglarized in the parking lot, before the tragic turn of events ensued, police said. These vehicles were impounded to allow evidence specialists to comb through them, looking for traces of the night's harrowing acts. Police have yet to confirm if Thomas, armed himself, had discharged his weapon during the skirmish, a detail accentuated by an arrest report mentioning Thomas suffered from 13 gunshot wounds, "which caused him to bleed to death," as quoted by WSMV.
The third arrest marks a grim closure to an investigation that has haunted the South Nashville community, where mourning for the fallen guard continues. With Phan's arrest, the MNPD has signaled the culmination of the manhunt, as noted by FOX17, as the final suspect now faces the justice system. The case, while closed on the streets, now unfolds in the court where the full measure of law will look to make sense of that which took from a community their sense of peace, safety, and one of their guardians.
