October 2023 | Issue #10

Young man with bright future

carjacked; leads sought by police

The man’s bleeding body was slumped on the street. A passerby on Carnes Avenue near the University of Memphis called for help. It was the night of February 4, 2022.

Another senseless homicide had taken place in Memphis.

The victim was 19-year-old Jacobi Price, but police had little to go on other than a car was seen in the area around the same time as he was shot repeatedly. Since then, police detectives have pieced together a bit more information with the help of his family.

The car – an Infinity – belonged to Price. He was the apparent victim of a carjacking and murder. The car was found later when it was pulled over by police. Three young men inside – one was a juvenile - were arrested on other charges. Their connection to the murder, if any, has not been established.

Price had been expected to be hired by FedEx and was looking forward to the new job he never got to start, his mother Demetira Ingram said.

Price’s family has pressed for help in the case. They provided information they heard on social media grapevines to police. They also have raised money so that a $7,500 extra award now is available through CrimeStoppers in his killing.

Today the murder is considered a cold case, due to the passage of time, although investigators continue combing for leads.

Anyone with any information is asked to call CrimeStoppers at (901) 528-CASH (2274). All contact remains anonymous at all times.

DNA testing plus new forensic genealogy studysolves 1956 case

Detectives working cold cases have automatic advantages and disadvantages.

One disadvantage is obvious: a case often has gone stale, with disappearing tips and witnesses and few if any new leads. But an advantage is that there often is more time to track down possible witnesses and to review evidence to rebuild a case for a fresh start.

The widespread use of technology in crime-solving methods - such as DNA testing, new national crime databases, and growing internet platforms – provides new ammunition when looking at old cases, too.



Detectives in Montana used DNA and forensic genealogy to bring about one of the oldest cold case solutions known to date, according to a news story by National Public Radio. That case dates to 1956 when hikers found the bodies of a young couple. He had been tied and shot in the head from behind; she had been raped and then killed in a similar fashion.

A cold case detectives uncovered in the old files on the murder case a laboratory microscope glass slide that contained DNA material. Getting a familial match of a cousin and then following genealogical connections by moving backwards on a family tree, the detective and geneologist tracked down a man who had moved from Montanna to Missouri.

However, the man had died and his body had been cremated.

Again, genealogy was put to work. Family members agreed to testing, and the result proved the dead man had been the killer. Case solved.

Review many open Memphis cold cases here.