MEMPHIS, Tenn. — A Shelby County Grand Jury is set to hear the cases against a Memphis man accused of killing an unhoused individual in Downtown Memphis, and charged another attack on an unhoused individual days before the killing.
Both cases against Karl Loucks were sent to a grand jury on July 9, 2024, according to court records. Loucks remains in jail without bond for a first-degree murder charge and $25,000 for an aggravated assault charge.
Karl Loucks is accused of shooting an unhoused individual outside of his apartment building on May 31, and a newer affidavit says that Loucks allegedly attacked another person with a knife days before on May 25, 2024.
The affidavit says that Loucks found the victim in a portable restroom where he had been sleeping outside of the Marriot in Downtown Memphis and placed a knife to his neck.
The victim claimed that Loucks intentionally cut him behind his ear and his thumb while trying to get away.
Loucks has been charged in the attack which occurred days before he was arrested for allegedly shooting and killing another unhoused individual outside of his apartment downtown.
Memphis Police responded to 40 North Street on May 31, and found a victim who had been shot several times outside the building, according to the affidavit for the original charge.
Several hours later this person died in an area hospital, according to the affidavit. A security guard told police that he recorded the incident and told the suspect he was recording in an effort to get the suspect to run away, according to the affidavit.
This security guard told police that there had already been several incidents where this suspect attacked homeless people, according to the affidavit.
The victim was sprayed in the face, according to the affidavit. As the victim was cleaning spray off of his face, the suspect reappeared with a rifle and began shooting in the direction of the suspect, according to the affidavit.
A name on the mailbox of the apartment building where the suspect was last seen lead investigators to Loucks, according to the affidavit.
The security guard was able to identify Loucks in a six-person lineup as the person responsible for the shooting, according to the affidavit.
The victim was unarmed during the shooting, according to the affidavit.
