Man claimed self-defense before shooting his roommate dead in argument over grill while the victim sat in his room: Police

A man in Tennessee claimed he’d have to use self-defense before gunning down his roommate during an argument about a grill while the victim was sitting in his own room, according to authorities.

Darren Cranford, 60, has been charged with first-degree murder in the death of Bruce Reid, Shelby County court records reviewed by Law&Crime show. The victim’s age is unclear.

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On Sunday, Cranford and Reid were at their home on the 2100 block of Brookline Road in Memphis, Tennessee. A woman was at a local restaurant when she said she started getting texts from Cranford suggesting an argument was taking place between him and Reid.

“I am going to have to shoot him in self-defense,” one of the messages from Cranford read, according to an affidavit filed in the case.

Cranford said Reid was “intoxicated and started threatening him” after Cranford “lit a grill too close to Reid’s motorcycle,” the court document states. The pair were outside but continued arguing inside their home, and that is when Cranford texted the woman about the disagreement.

The defendant noted that while arguing, “he armed himself with a gun and hid it under his shirt.”

The woman showed up at Cranford and Reid’s residence to find the two of them “in a verbal altercation.” She said “she believed that Reid was sitting in his room” when Cranford allegedly shot him.

The Memphis Police Department said its officers were called to the address at about 3:30 p.m. that day, and they arrived to find Cranford and the woman inside. Reid was “lying on the ground with a single gunshot wound to his chest,” and he was pronounced dead.

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Investigators heard the woman’s story, and they also spoke with Cranford. The defendant said that when the woman showed up, Reid “came at him in an aggressive manner and that he shot Reid once,” per the affidavit.

Authorities did not indicate that the victim was armed or had attacked the suspect.

Cranford was arrested and booked into the Shelby County Jail. He is being held without bond and had a bond hearing scheduled for Wednesday.

The post Man claimed self-defense before shooting his roommate dead in argument over grill while the victim sat in his room: Police first appeared on Law & Crime.