Two men implicated in the fatal shooting of a Memphis teenager in 2021 have entered guilty pleas, foregoing a trial. Ozar Faulkner and Jarquez Mallory were originally charged with first-degree murder in the death of Braylon Murray, who was 17 at the time of his death. Yesterday, the plea deals were finalized with Mallory receiving a 15-year sentence for second-degree murder and Faulkner a two-year sentence for solicitation-aggravated assault, Action News 5 reports.
Murray, a high school football player, was killed at a car wash in the Hyde Park neighborhood on Aug. 3, 2021. His death sparked a community outcry led by his grandmother, Sarah Carpenter, an education activist and member of Memphis Lift. Ensnared by systemic violence, this case has become emblematic of the broader societal plague afflicting Memphis streets. Carpenter has been vocal in her advocacy for increased efforts to curb such violence, her grandson's tragic end a sorrowful punctuation in her quest, FOX13 Memphis reported.
The County Criminal Court presided over the sentencing, where Mallory was handed 15 years in the Tennessee Department of Corrections. Faulkner, according to court records, will benefit from time already served, as he has been incarcerated since November 2021. His involvement, characterized as solicitation to aggravated assault, translates to a significantly shorter sentence than that of Mallory, who accepted responsibility as the triggerman in the ordeal. Faulkner's plea essentially recognizes his role in the planning phase of the violence but steps back from the act of pulling the trigger itself, Local Memphis clarifies.
Murray's mother, founding The Braylon Murray Project in her son's memory, aims to combat the gun violence scourge that claimed her child. This initiative, more than a mere echo of grief, endeavors to offer scholarships to young Memphis residents, aiding in their academic pursuits. "My grandson did not deserve to die like this, no matter what happened," Sarah Carpenter told FOX13 Memphis in 2021. These words, though steeped in pain, have fuelled a legacy that transcends the narrative of another life lost to senseless brutality; instead, planting seeds of opportunity in a community too often left reckoning with loss.
