Federal marshals have tracked down a man wanted in a 2016 Memphis homicide, arresting 36-year-old Terry Johnson on Tuesday in Peoria, Illinois. Johnson is accused of killing 18-year-old Ryan Gilliam in a shooting at an apartment complex in the Pershing Park area, a case that lingered for nearly a decade and ended about 500 miles from where it began.
According to LocalMemphis, the U.S. Marshals Service picked Johnson up on April 14 after investigators followed a lead that he had relocated to Illinois. Marshals arrested him in Peoria, where he is being held pending further processing. Officials told the outlet the collar reflects a long-running, multiagency push to find and arrest violent fugitives.
The killing dates back to Jan. 9, 2016, when officers found Gilliam unresponsive with a gunshot wound in the 3700 block of Pershing Park. He later died from his injuries, WMC Action News 5 reported at the time. That coverage noted police quickly issued warrants for Johnson and another man and remembered Gilliam as a Trezevant High School senior. The case emerged during one of Memphis’s more violent years and did not exactly fade quietly from public view.
LocalMemphis reports Johnson is facing a long list of Shelby County charges, including two counts of first-degree murder, multiple counts of attempted first-degree murder, several weapons charges and aggravated burglary. Those indictments remain active in Tennessee and will control how any extradition or transfer from Illinois plays out, according to officials.
Authorities originally named Johnson alongside Marktavious Twilley in an indictment tied to the Pershing Park shooting, according to contemporaneous reporting. WMC Action News 5 noted that both men were wanted on first-degree murder warrants in early 2016, and police publicly appealed for tips. Officials this week have not released any fresh details about other suspects in the case.
How The Capture Unfolded
Memphis investigators told marshals that the Memphis Safe Task Force developed a lead suggesting Johnson had moved to Illinois, which set off the coordinated work that ended with Tuesday’s arrest. The U.S. Marshals Service and its regional fugitive task forces routinely team up with local departments on cross-state searches for violent suspects, sharing intel and boots on the ground. For more on how those local districts and task forces operate, see the U.S. Marshals Service information on local districts.
What Happens Next
Johnson remains in custody in Peoria following his arrest, and officials have not yet released a timetable for any transfer or extradition to Shelby County. Once Tennessee authorities regain physical custody, Memphis prosecutors are expected to move ahead on the outstanding indictments and arraignment steps in criminal court. The case is still classified as an active homicide investigation in Memphis while paperwork and processing tied to the arrest are completed.
The arrest effectively closes the fugitive chapter of the case and highlights how long multiagency work can stretch when a suspect is believed to have skipped town. For now, the focus is on moving Johnson through Illinois custody and getting the file back into a Tennessee courtroom where the long-pending charges can finally move forward.
