On the evening of April 4, 2020, a vehicle crash on Martin Luther King Jr. Avenue in Knoxville revealed that the occupant, 32-year-old African-American woman Markedra Houston, had been shot. Witnesses reported hearing gunfire moments before her car left the road and struck a building. She was taken to UT Medical Center but died after a bullet severed a main artery, causing fatal blood loss.

Known as Kee, Markedra was an Austin East High School class of 2006 graduate and a mother of four. She worked as a cook at BJ’s Deli and Omar’s Market and was remembered by family for her devotion to her children. The Knoxville Police Department has classified the case as a homicide and says the shooting appears to have followed a confrontation at a nearby residence rather than being random. No arrests or public suspect identifications have been announced.

Anyone who was in the Martin Luther King Jr. Avenue area that evening or who has information about the confrontation is asked to contact the Knoxville Police Department.