Eric Scott Mansfield, 33, was shot and killed on the evening of November 11, 2003, near Chapel and Greenwood Avenues in East Nashville while driving his silver Volkswagen Jetta. The shooting occurred during an apparent carjacking; Mansfield was found unresponsive in his car after being shot through an open door. The bullet caused catastrophic injuries to his heart and left lung and lodged in his spine. He managed to pull the vehicle to the side of the road but died at the scene.

Investigators treated the attack as a robbery-motivated carjacking. A tip to Crime Stoppers led to the arrest on December 7, 2003, of 16-year-old Dionvelt Miller, a tenth-grader at Maplewood High School; Miller was charged with criminal homicide, aggravated robbery, and two counts of unlawful weapon possession and reportedly confessed, saying the intent was to rob Mansfield and steal the car. Another teenager, Lateze Robinson, also confessed to involvement. Anyone with information about Mansfield, his movements that night, or the attack is asked to come forward.