TBI investigates officer-involved shooting that killed 20-year-old man

MEMPHIS, Tenn. (WMC) - Limited information is available as the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation continues its investigation into the shooting death of 20-year-old Atlanta native, Jaylin McKenzie.

According to the TBI, he was shot by a Memphis police officer.

McKenzie’s mother, Ashley McKenzie Smith, is continuing to fight for answers.

“A traffic stop should not turn deadly,” Ashley said.

For months, McKenzie Smith says questions about the death of her only son have gone unanswered.

Jaylin McKenzie, 20,  of Atlanta was visiting his father’s family in Memphis back in December 2022.

Ashley says she’d spoken to her son hours before he was expected to head back home on December 16, but on December 17 Ashley got the call no mother wants to hear.

“My brain was all over the place,” McKenzie Smith said. “You know, I’m thinking maybe I got to go bail him out or something―not thinking that, that call was going to be, that he was deceased.”

According to the TBI, shortly before midnight, Memphis police attempted to make a traffic stop near American Way, but the driver drove off, ending up near Cochese Avenue.

Their report states three people ran away in different directions.

TBI also says an officer and one subject exchanged gunfire, “resulting in the death of the individual.”

McKenzie Smith tells Action News 5, two of her requests for police body camera footage were ignored.

“They haven’t told us anything,” she said. “Anything we know about the story; we have Googled it. So, them saying that the car was suspicious, we got that from Google, it was a white Infiniti, we got that from Google.”

Her lawyer, Andre Wharton, requested body camera footage from the city, which he says was denied.

McKenzie Smith says the lack of transparency has been frustrating and leaves her concerned for others.

“I’m not the first mother, other mothers have had issues with traffic stops,” she said. “If Memphis police and TBI would have answered all the knocks that we have knocked on their door and all the calls, I do not think Tyre Nichols would be deceased today.”

Action News 5 spoke with family attorney Andre Wharton, who says while they haven’t received any new information, he’s leaving no stones unturned on behalf of the family, and he hopes to meet with the District Attorney soon.

The TBI says the case remains under investigation.

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