MEMPHIS, Tenn. — The trial has been set for the three people accused of luring a man to a home then shooting and killing him for $20 in 2019.
Jalen Braden, Albert Johnson, and Breanna Williams, who was 15 at the time and is now charged as an adult, were indicted in the murder of Baba Said in July 2019. Braden is out of jail after his bond was revoked in May 2024 then reinstated in July. Johnson remains behind bars on $750,000 bond. Williams is currently out of jail on bond.
Court records show the trial for all three has been set for June 23, 2025.
Investigators said that on July 3, 2019, Williams invited 20-year-old Baba Said to a house in the 1400 block of Amarillo St. near Kimball and Semmes. When he arrived, however, Braden confronted him with a gun, robbed him of $20 and shot him in the back of the head, according to police.
Police said Braden and Williams then wrapped the victim’s body in plastic bags, placed it in trunk of his car and disposed of it in a drainage ditch near Park and Getwell. Said’s car was found on the interstate the following day, prompting a missing-person search for Said.
A GPS ping from Said’s phone led searchers to the area of the Amarillo residence where several days later investigators saw a sofa on the curb with a large blood stain. More blood was found in Braden’s house, and he eventually gave police a statement of is involvement.
Said’s body was discovered by a boater three months later near a marina at Martin Luther King Jr. Riverside Park.
Albert Johnson was being interviewed in an unrelated case October 21, 2020, when police said he admitted to being in the home when Baba Said was killed.
According to a police affidavit Braden told investigators Johnson gave him the gun that he then used to kill Said before taking two $10 bills from the victim's pocket.
Police said Johnson admitted to helping Braden put Said into garbage bags, putting the body in the trunk of the victim's vehicle, then dumping Said's body in a drainage ditch. They said Johnson also admitted helping Braden move a bloody couch where Said had been shot to the curb of the home.
Braden and Johnson are charged with first degree murder, especially aggravated robbery, abuse of a corpse, and tampering with evidence. Williams is charged with murder and robbery.
Court records show Braden was also indicted with murder and aggravated robbery in a separate case from October 2019. Johnson is also charged in a separate statutory rape case.
