A late-night burst of gunfire in a small Ripley shack has now ended with a life sentence. On Thursday, Kylan Beard was ordered to spend the rest of his life in prison plus 26 years for a June 28, 2022, shooting that killed an 18-year-old and wounded two children. Prosecutors say the violence started when Beard forced his way into a shack behind a home and opened fire, a crime that rattled the tight-knit community.
Beard was convicted earlier this year of first-degree murder and two counts of attempted murder and received the combined term, according to FOX13 Memphis. District Attorney Mark Davidson told the outlet that Beard kicked in the shack door and opened fire during what prosecutors described as a burglary, and Ripley police publicly offered condolences to the victim’s family.
How police say the shooting unfolded
Investigators say the gunfire erupted just after 10 p.m. on June 28, 2022, near Spiller Hill and Rice Park in Ripley, where court documents state Beard forced his way into a small structure and shot multiple people inside. Two juvenile victims were rushed to a hospital, while 18-year-old Donnell Barbee Jr. was pronounced dead at the scene, as reported by Action News 5.
Arrest, hospital and manhunt
Not long after the shooting, investigators found Beard nearby with a gunshot wound of his own and he was taken to a Memphis hospital. At that point he was already wanted by local police, the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation and federal marshals, WSMV reported. Authorities later tracked him down and arrested him in Memphis as the multi-agency search closed in on the suspect.
Sentence and legal counts
The judge imposed the life term plus an additional 26 years after Beard’s conviction, a punishment prosecutors said matched the severity of the attack, per FOX13 Memphis. The convictions include first-degree murder and two counts of attempted first-degree murder, and sentencing formally closed a case that had triggered statewide alerts in 2022.
Local officials said the multi-agency response in 2022, which drew in Ripley police, the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation and federal marshals, shows how far a single act of violence can reach in a small town, and court records indicate that post-conviction avenues remain open to the defendant. The Ripley community continues to reckon with the loss while the courthouse file closes one chapter of the long-running investigation, WSMV reported.
