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Wallace "Walo" Lee Morris

Age : 42

Gender : Male

Race : Black

Date : 06/25/2021

Location : Walnut Grove Road and Timber Creek Drive

City : Memphis

County : Shelby

State : Tennessee

Agency : Memphis Police Department

Officer(s) :Antonio Marshall

Cause of Death : Vehicle

Event : Bystander killed by police vehicle crash

OPEN RECORDS SUMMARY :

On 06/25/2021, 42-year-old Wallace Morris was killed with his 19-year-old nephew, Travis Parham Jr., when off-duty Memphis Police Officer Antonio Marshall crashed his Dodge Charger into their Pontiac Bonneville at Walnut Grove Road and Timber Creek Drive in Memphis.
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Morris and his nephew were pulling from a private drive onto Walnut Grove Road when Marshall approached eastbound at extreme speed. Data recovered from Marshall's Dodge Charger showed that he was traveling 114 mph five seconds before impact on a roadway with a 45-mph speed limit. He was still traveling approximately 99 mph when he struck Morris and Parham's Pontiac.
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The collision split the Pontiac into two pieces. Marshall's Charger dragged the front portion of the Pontiac approximately 200 yards, while another portion of the wrecked vehicle struck a Ford F-250 stopped in the westbound center turn lane. Morris and Parham died at the scene. Marshall survived with non-critical injuries.
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MPD's crash report documented racing and aggressive driving/road rage in connection with Marshall's driving. Marshall was off duty and driving his privately owned Dodge Charger rather than a police vehicle. He was not responding to an emergency or conducting police business.
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Morris was Parham's uncle, and their deaths simultaneously took two members of the same extended family. Relatives gathered for a vigil at the Walnut Grove crash site and described a family struggling to absorb the loss of both men at once. Morris's relatives repeatedly called for accountability after learning the extraordinary speed at which Marshall had been driving.
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Memphis police relieved Marshall of duty following the crash. He surrendered four days later and was charged with two counts of vehicular homicide, one for Morris and one for Parham. Marshall was subsequently released on his own recognizance without bond.
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Marshall resigned from the Memphis Police Department in July 2021 while the criminal prosecution remained pending.
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In August 2023, Marshall pleaded guilty to vehicular homicide. The court sentenced him to five years but suspended four years of the sentence, requiring him to serve one year in custody followed by four years of probation. Morris and Parham's relatives publicly condemned the sentence as insufficient punishment for two deaths.
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OFFICER BACKGROUND:
Antonio Marshall was a Memphis Police Department officer and was 27 at the time of the collision. Although off duty, his employment with MPD became the subject of immediate departmental action after he killed Morris and Parham. MPD relieved him of duty, and Marshall resigned the following month while facing vehicular-homicide charges.
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The crash investigation documented Marshall traveling as fast as 114 mph on a 45-mph roadway and approximately 99 mph at impact. MPD's crash report documented racing and aggressive driving/road rage in connection with his conduct.
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DISPOSITION:
Former Memphis Police Officer Antonio Marshall pleaded guilty to vehicular homicide for killing Wallace Morris and Travis Parham Jr. He received a five-year sentence with four years suspended, requiring one year in custody followed by four years of probation.
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SOURCE LINKS :

https://www.fox13memphis.com/news/off-duty-mpd-officer-involved-in-deadly-crash-on-walnut-grove-police-say/article_ddb59984-686c-587e-8134-1d13c184b453.html
https://www.actionnews5.com/2021/06/25/traffic-alert-lane-closures-walnut-grove-road-timber-creek-drive/
https://www.actionnews5.com/2021/06/30/family-grieves-two-deaths-crash-off-duty-memphis-officer-charged/
https://dailymemphian.com/section/metropublic-safety/article/22748/mpd-officer-antonio-marshall-released-own-recognizance
https://dailymemphian.com/section/metropublic-safety/article/23111/mpd-officer-antonio-marshall-fatal-crash
https://www.actionnews5.com/2021/08/03/former-memphis-police-officer-charged-deadly-crash-undergoing-mental-evaluation/
https://www.actionnews5.com/2023/07/11/former-mpd-officer-charged-deadly-2021-crash-expected-plead-guilty/
https://www.actionnews5.com/2023/08/08/ex-mpd-officer-serve-1-year-prison-over-fatal-crash/
https://dailymemphian.com/section/metropublic-safety/article/37951/memphis-police-travis-parham-wallace-morris-crash-antonio-marshall-sentence