Samantha Marion, 42, was back in a Shelby County courtroom on Friday, where she waived a bond hearing and was told to return on April 2, 2026. For now, she remains free on a $100,000 bond while she fights charges in the death of Pastor Ricky Floyd, a well-known Frayser minister. Prosecutors say the deadly encounter unfolded during a late-night confrontation outside Momma’s Bar and Kitchen on March 12, 2025.
According to police and surveillance footage, an argument that began inside the South Memphis bar spilled onto the street. Officers later found Floyd with a gunshot wound outside Momma’s Bar and Kitchen, and he was pronounced dead at the scene. Floyd was the senior lead pastor at the Pursuit of God Transformation Center and a prominent community figure who pushed for youth programs and police reform. Action News 5 first reported on the investigation and shared early video from the scene.
At Friday’s hearing, Judge Lee Coffee agreed there was no need for a new bond hearing after prosecutors said the current bond was sufficient. Marion’s attorney, John Keith Perry, told the court there is “no indication” his client is any greater flight risk and said he is still combing through the evidence. Investigators have reviewed surveillance clips that show Marion recording Floyd’s vehicle and an exchange that escalated outside the bar, according to coverage of the court session and Perry’s remarks by WREG.
Indictment And Where The Case Stands
Marion was first charged with voluntary manslaughter shortly after the March 2025 shooting. That changed in late August 2025, when a Shelby County grand jury handed up an indictment elevating the case to second-degree murder and adding charges of employing a firearm with intent to commit a felony and reckless endangerment with a deadly weapon. The prosecution was later reassigned to a special district attorney’s office in Nashville after the local district attorney stepped aside from the case. The Daily Memphian reported on the upgraded indictment and the change in prosecutors.
What The Video Shows And The Defense’s Argument
Video that surfaced early in the investigation shows a tense back-and-forth before the shooting. According to police, the footage appears to capture Floyd throwing Marion’s phone to the ground along with a beer can, then leaving in his vehicle. The video shows Marion following and recording his car, and Floyd returning and moving toward her before he falls to the pavement.
Marion’s legal team argues those same images back up a claim of self-defense, saying she feared for her safety during the confrontation outside the bar. Action News 5 has published the video along with early witness accounts that have fueled public debate about what exactly happened in those final seconds.
Legal Stakes
The charges Marion now faces significantly raise the stakes. In Tennessee, a second-degree murder conviction is a Class A felony, which carries a much broader and tougher sentencing range than voluntary manslaughter, typically treated as a lower-level felony. That jump in possible prison time is a key reason prosecutors sought the upgraded indictment. State law outlines the elements and penalties for second-degree murder in TCA 39-13-210.
Marion is scheduled to return to Shelby County court on April 2, 2026. Prosecutors and defense attorneys are expected to use that date to tackle pretrial scheduling and any remaining motions, according to WREG, which reported on the brief hearing and upcoming court date.
