Teen, 21-year-old man indicted for murder of Memphis pastor

By Leonardo Blair, Senior Reporter Wednesday, March 01, 2023

A 15-year-old teen and a 21-year-old man were indicted by a grand jury Tuesday for the daylight murder of the Rev. Autura Eason-Williams who led Capleville United Methodist Church in Tennessee.

In a statement from the Shelby County District Attorney’s Office, officials announced that 15-year-old Miguel Andrade and 21-year-old Eduard Rodriguez-Tabora were indicted by the grand jury on two counts of first-degree murder and especially aggravated robbery.

Police said Eason-Williams, 52, was fatally shot in the driveway of her home in Whitehaven during a carjacking just after 4 p.m. on July 18, 2022. Friends say she was on her mobile phone with a colleague when she was attacked.

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Officials said one count of first-degree murder is due to the premeditated killing of Eason-Williams, while the second count was filed because she was killed during the perpetration of a robbery.

The Shelby County DA’s Office requested a $1 million bond for Rodriguez-Tabora at the preliminary hearing on Oct. 19, 2022, but he remains in custody even though his bail was granted.

Andrade posted his $200,000 bond and he is now out on bail.

A date has not yet been set for trial but Assistant District Attorney Forrest M. Edwards of the Crime Strategies and Narcotics Prosecution Unit is expect to prosecute the case.

In October, it was revealed that the pastor’s family was divided on whether Andrade should be tried as an adult.

The pastor’s oldest child, Ayanna Hampton, argued against prosecuting teenagers as adults, saying her mother, who was a child advocate, would have opposed it.

“I feel like it’s wrong to use her death to advocate for something that she would absolutely disagree with,” Hampton said at a press conference in July. “My mother was a visionary leader; I do not want us to miss the opportunity to envision the improvements we can make to our juvenile justice system so that we are not convinced that we have to send children to adult prison for them to suffer the proper consequences that will fit their crime.”

She argued that it would be better if minor suspects remain in the juvenile system with supportive services provided to them.

“If you can’t try them the way you are supposed to in juvenile court that means you need to fix your court. That means that you need to improve your system,” she said. “So justice for me is not just about these kids, it’s about every single child.”

Eason-Williams’ widower told News Channel 3 that he speaks for several of his sisters-in-law and other family members when he said the teenager responsible for his late wife’s death should be “prosecuted to the fullest.”