Man convicted of killing Memphis teen

Monday, April 14, 2014

MEMPHIS, Tenn. - Prosecutors say a Memphis man has been convicted of killing a teen at an apartment complex and fleeing to Florida before he was captured.

The Shelby County district attorney's office said Friday that a jury found 33-year-old Robert Townsend guilty of first-degree murder in the fatal shooting of 19-year-old Markeith Bohanon in August 2012.

Townsend has two prior violent felony convictions. He was sentenced to life in prison without parole under the state's "three-strikes" law.

Witnesses told the Criminal Court jury that Townsend chased Bohanon through the complex and shot him in the back with a snub-nosed revolver following a dispute over Townsend's girlfriend.

Townsend fled the city after the shooting, but he was captured several weeks later in Daytona Beach, Fla., and returned to Memphis.