MEMPHIS, Tenn. — A Shelby County Grand Jury has indicted a Whitehaven man with the murder of a woman whose body was found under his truck in the parking lot of a strip mall.
The Shelby County District Attorney General’s Office said Christian Pitts, 34, was indicted on charges of first-degree murder and convicted felon in possession of a handgun. He is being held in the Shelby County Jail in $200,000 bond.
Investigators said about 3 a.m. Jan. 15, 2022, a resident in the area of Winchester Road and South Mendenhall reported hearing gunshots. Memphis Police found Vonnie Payne, 34, dead, partially under an unoccupied white pickup truck owned by Pitts. They said Payne had been shot more than a dozen times.
Police said a witness saw the suspect, and Pitts was arrested less than a mile away.
According to prosecutors, Pitts said he was sleeping in his truck when he heard and noise, then got out and struggled with a woman who was underneath his truck. They said he then said he “blacked out.”
