Randolph Ingram

In the early hours of April 28, 2020, a shooting on a quiet street in Knoxville, Tennessee, left two people dead. Knoxville Police Department officers responded to a call around 12:30 a.m. and arrived at the 2800 block of East 5th Avenue to find a tragic scene. In the street lay Randolph Ingram, a 60-year-old Black man, who had been shot multiple times. A few moments later, investigators discovered a second victim, 38-year-old Ashley Marie Hurt, inside a nearby residence. She too had been fatally shot. Both Mr. Ingram and Ms. Hurt were pronounced dead at the scene.

According to the arrest warrant filed in the case, the violence began just after midnight inside an apartment at 2825 E. Fifth Avenue, which was Mr. Ingram’s home. Investigators stated that a man entered the residence and shot both Ms. Hurt and Mr. Ingram with a handgun. Though he was wounded, Mr. Ingram managed to flee the apartment. The assailant reportedly pursued him into the street and shot him again, this time in the back.

The Knoxville Police Department’s Violent Crimes Unit launched an intensive investigation that quickly led to a suspect. Police arrested 30-year-old Lamar Todd Mallett and charged him with two counts of first-degree murder, one for the death of Mr. Ingram and one for the death of Ms. Hurt. He was booked into the Knox County Detention Center and held on a $1 million bond.

Just over a month later, the case took a significant turn. On June 8, 2020, Knox County Judge Patricia Long dismissed both first-degree murder charges against Lamar Mallett. The sources do not provide a reason for the dismissal. As of that development in June 2020, the double homicide of Randolph Ingram and Ashley Marie Hurt remains unsolved.