After nearly a year-long manhunt, a Memphis man was apprehended on charges of beating another man to death with a pole. The suspect, 31-year-old Alfred Draper, was taken into custody behind a shopping center off Park Avenue and Getwell Road in Memphis, according to the U.S. Marshals Service. The collaborative arrest effort included the Memphis Police Department and the Shelby County Sheriff's Office, Action News 5 reports.
On October 11, 2023, the Memphis Police responded to the 1600 block of Rayburn Street, where they discovered Shanqualus Morgan, then 46, unresponsive in a field, these details come from a WREG report; he later succumbed to critical head trauma at Regional One Hospital. Surveillance footage obtained in the investigation purportedly showed Morgan's last moments, where he was struck by a Nissan Maxima, then chased and beaten by a man wielding a "long pole."
Draper, the alleged assailant, was identified days after the incident, with two neighbors claiming to have recognized him as the man who bludgeoned Morgan to death, these specifics being noted in filings cited by FOX13 Memphis. After the arrest warrant was issued, the case gained the attention of the USMS Two Rivers Violent Fugitive Task Force, which played a crucial role in locating and arresting Draper without incident.
While first-degree murder charges are pending against him, Draper is expected in court on August 5th, as records have shown, an affidavit described the chilling scene – noting that after the beating, the male with the pole was seen looking over his shoulder in the direction where Morgan was lying unconscious. Although no bond had been set as of the reports, the Shelby County jail has processed and booked Draper, according to Action News 5.
