Pair charged in truck fire death and other news from areas around Chattanooga

Pair charged in truck fire death

MILLINGTON, Tenn. -- A second person has been charged with the death of a man whose badly burned body was found in a pickup truck in West Tennessee.

According to WMC-TV, 35-year-old Morrieo Allen was arrested on Saturday and charged with murdering Cleate Davis. His burned-out pickup with his body inside was discovered Dec. 18 near Millington.

Investigators said the 50-year-old Davis had two gunshot wounds to his head.

Earlier this week, Allen's girlfriend, 34-year-old Aleasha Cox, was charged with first-degree murder in perpetration of a robbery. Authorities say the pair attempted to rob Davis, which later led to his death.

Both Allen and Davis are scheduled to appear in court on Monday.

Deal could draw e-commerce

MEMPHIS -- Memphis real estate experts say the announcement of -- a Target online distribution center could indicate a shift in e-commerce that would benefit the region.

Target announced this month that it would locate a new online fulfillment center in Memphis, which will create more than 400 jobs. The 900,000-square-foot facility is expected to open by the middle of next year and will service the entire Southeast.

"I think a name like Target, a top 50 name, can open up the lid on e-commerce that we haven't seen here yet but other markets have seen," said Patrick Walton, who represented the landlord in the Target deal. "This has been happening in the large markets across the country for a while but this is our first major one and that is significant."

Memphis has a good geographic location and solid distribution and logistics infrastructure that could attract companies looking for a single national distribution center or those seeking secondary markets for regional distribution like Target.

"With Target, this isn't just our market being serviced, it's the whole Southeast," said Walton.

"I think what is happening here is this is more of a region-based e-commerce surge," he said. "Typically e-commerce centers are for same-day or next-day delivery and they're more market specific, but Target is servicing the whole Southeast and it's not really a same-day delivery scenario and I think we could see growth in that area."

Authorities probe inmate's death

ATLANTA -- Authorities are investigating the death of an inmate in the Fulton County jail.

Sheriff's spokeswoman Tracy Flanagan told the Atlanta Journal-Constitution the inmate was alone when he was found in his cell around 5 a.m. Sunday. The inmate was pronounced dead at Grady Memorial Hospital.

The inmate's identity hasn't been released and his cause of death is under investigation.

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