MURFREESBORO, TN - Cellphone and GPS data, along with other investigative tools helped Murfreesboro Detective Cody Thomas narrow down the names of those who may have been tied to a murder case on Gunnerson Avenue in Murfreesboro 3-years ago, according to Rutherford County District Attorney Jennings Jones... Police tracked down Corey Munsell Lillard, Jr., who was 18 at the time, hiding in a closet at a Center Pointe Drive home. The juvenile was captured shortly after the shooting walking down Old Lascassas Road.
The case was bound-over to a Rutherford County Grand Jury, resulting in Lillards indictment in 2022. It wasn't until the final few months of this year, that the case came to a close. This past November, Lillard, who is now 21, filed guilty pleas before Judge James Turner...
The 32-year-old victim in the shooting was Javarius Malone (pictured above this article), a Smyrna High School graduate. Malone, who went by the nickname of Vari, played football from elementary school to high school and was the father of four boys. He was laid to rest on October 10th of 2020.
