Kiauna Newsom, Memphis, Tennessee woman shoots ex boyfriend’s roommate dead in mistaken identity moments after victim had asked the ex for a loan of his car.
A Tennessee woman is accused of fatally shooting a man inside a car who she believed to be her ex boyfriend, only for the victim to be identified as the man’s room-mate in a case of mistaken identity.
Kiauna Lynesha Newsom gunned down the roommate, George Harris, after he had asked to borrow the boyfriend’s vehicle to run an errand. Prior to the fatal shooting, Newsom and her ex boyfriend had become embroiled in an altercation at a local Memphis store, with the man then returning home.
A regard of the shot up Chevy Malibu revealed no less than four bullet holes in the driver’s window.
Ex girlfriend admits to looking to tracking the boyfriend to shoot at
Investigators talked to the owner of the car, who said the man driving was his roommate. The owner believed he was the target, and that his roommate was the victim of mistaken identity, according to an affidavit.
‘(Newsom’s ex-boyfriend) explained that he believed that he was the intended target and Harris was the victim of mistaken identity. (The ex-boyfriend) stated that he and his ex-girlfriend Kiauna Newson got into an argument at a store at Kirby and Shelby Drive. (The ex-boyfriend) advised that he left the store and went home. When he got home, victim Harris asked (the ex-boyfriend) to borrow his car,’ the affidavit stated. ‘(The ex-boyfriend) loaned his car to Harris and advised that a short time later, he received a phone call that Harris had been shot. Video from the store at Kirby and Shelby showed that Kiauna Newson was wearing a white V-neck shirt and driving a gray Nissan a short time before the murder.’
Video footage showed Newsom wearing a white v-neck shirt and driving a gray Nissan with body damage.
After tracking the vehicle to her house, Memphis Police took Newsom into custody. She admitted to driving the Nissan and looking for her ex-boyfriend.
Gun violence the default way to resolve disagreements
According to Newsom, a man known as ‘Boogie’ was riding with her. When she saw the Chevy Malibu, she pulled beside it, and Boogie allegedly pulled out a rifle-style gun and fired multiple shots.
Newsom identified Boogie, whose real name is Justin Howard, in a lineup.
This case of mistaken identity is an example of tragedies Interim Memphis Police Chief CJ Davis talked about in a recent town hall meeting.
‘We see more shootings now from individuals having an argument,’ Chief Davis said. ‘Arguments turning into gun fights and shootings as opposed to conflict resolution.’
Chief Davis says before people would go in the yard and duke it out, now there are guns and people are shooting each other.
Newsom has since been charged with first degree murder.
