Raymond Howard

In the spring of 2020, as the world grappled with a growing sense of unease, the city of Memphis was on its way to a record-breaking year of violence. The city would see a significant spike in homicides, a grim trend that would touch many lives, including that of Raymond Howard. On the evening of April 6, 2020, under the streetlights of the historic Orange Mound neighborhood, his life was cut short in a burst of gunfire.

The neighborhood of Orange Mound, the first subdivision in the United States built for and by African Americans, is a place with a deep and rich history. It was once a vibrant and bustling community, a symbol of Black prosperity and self-sufficiency. By 2020, however, like many urban neighborhoods, it was also a community that had seen its share of struggle, with rising crime rates and the social and economic pressures that often accompany them. It was against this backdrop that the events of that Monday night unfolded.

Around 11:40 p.m., on the 2400 block of Park Avenue, Raymond Howard was found on a sidewalk, having suffered multiple gunshot wounds. He was pronounced dead at the scene. In the chaos of the moment, another life was also irrevocably altered; a 15-year-old girl was struck by a bullet, suffering a grazing wound to her forehead. She was taken to a hospital for treatment. The Memphis Police Department began its investigation, piecing together the events that led to the shooting.

Investigators quickly identified a suspect: 25-year-old Curdarreion Wilson. Wilson was no stranger to law enforcement. At the time of the shooting, he already had outstanding warrants for attempted second-degree murder, aggravated assault, and possession of a firearm. He had a reputation for evading arrest, having successfully fled from authorities on three previous occasions. There was also intelligence suggesting he had expressed a willingness to use violence against police. The U.S. Marshals Gulf Coast Regional Fugitive Task Force and the Multi-Agency Gang Unit joined the search for Wilson.

Ten days after the shooting, on April 16, 2020, investigators tracked Wilson to a parking lot on the 3200 block of South Third Street. When they attempted to apprehend him, he fled in a vehicle, and then on foot. During the chase, Wilson discarded a handgun, which was later recovered from a dumpster. He was eventually cornered, hiding in the crawlspace of a nearby house on East Belle Haven Road, where a K-9 officer assisted in his capture.

In September 2020, a grand jury indicted Curdarreion Wilson on a slew of charges, including second-degree murder for the death of Raymond Howard, attempted second-degree murder, aggravated assault, employment of a firearm in the commission of a dangerous felony, and being a convicted felon in possession of a firearm.

The case of Raymond Howard is a stark reminder of the human cost of gun violence. While the legal process was set in motion with the indictment of a suspect, the full story of Raymond Howard's life, the man he was, and the void his death left in the lives of those who knew him remains largely untold in the public record. The final outcome of the charges against Curdarreion Wilson in connection with this case is not detailed in the available online sources. The narrative of that tragic night in Orange Mound, like so many others in a year of unprecedented violence, is one of a life lost and a community left to grapple with the aftermath.