MEMPHIS, Tenn. — More details are coming out after Memphis Police Officer Joseph McKinney was shot and killed while responding to a call early Friday morning.
According to court records, the man accused of killing him had previously been released from jail on felony charges without bail by a Shelby County judge.
18-year-old Jaylen Lobley was identified by the Memphis Police Association as the suspect who was shot and killed early Friday morning after Memphis Police said he shot and killed Officer McKinney, also shooting two other MPD officers in the incident.
Interim Memphis Police Chief C.J. Davis said the suspect shot McKinney and the two other officers with a Glock switch, a device that converts a semi-automatic handgun into a fully-automatic sub-machine gun.
Lobley was arrested in March 2024 for possessing such a switch while stealing a car, admitting to stealing both an Infiniti Q50 and Dodge Charger, reported stolen March 2 and March 3 respectively.
Officers found the handgun after arresting him on March 5. The 18-year-old told investigators he took the gun from a car he was trying to steal about six months prior.
He was charged with two counts of motor vehicle theft, unlawful possession of a weapon, prohibited weapon and two counts of vandalism.
On March 7, Lobley was released on his own recognizance — with conditions that included agreeing to weekly call-ins and curfew — approved by the General Sessions court. However, the judge who released the suspect without bond was not named in the Shelby County judicial system.
ABC24 has learned from the Memphis Police Association President, Sgt. Matt Cunningham, the judicial commissioner who granted the release on recognizance is Christopher Ingram.
Shelby County District Attorney Steve Mulroy later released a statement, saying the bond was granted by a Shelby County judicial commissioner after a hearing in which his office argued against lowering the bond because the suspect was a danger to the community.
Mulroy said Lobley was facing federal prosecution, despite being a first-time offender, adding that the prosecution aligned with his firm's violent crime initiative.
He had been scheduled to reappear in court for a preliminary hearing on April 30, but he died in the gunfire exchange with MPD on April 12.
