Thompson viewed the handguns for sale and left the pawnshop, according to the DA s Office.
Foster bought the 9mm handgun. Later that day, Foster met Thompson in a parking lot off Broadway and handed the Glock to Thompson, according to prosecutors.
Authorities recovered the gun in the bathroom after the April 12 confrontation.
Credit: Submitted: Alexus Page
Anthony Thompson Jr. (Foster) admitted to purchasing the firearm and providing the firearm to Thompson. The Defendant admitted that he furnished the firearm to Thompson for cash and marijuana. The Defendant admitted he had known Thompson since Thompson was 5 years old because he was friends with Thompson’s brother. During the investigation, two additional handguns were recovered from the Defendant, according to the DA s Office.
View Comments
Lawrence Muhammad didn t hear the gunfire outside his family s East Knoxville home that February evening. He didn t know what had happened until he found his son in a state of panic and asked, in a heart-stopping moment: Where s your sister?
Muhammad went outside and found 15-year-old Janaria there, shot and bleeding badly at the bottom of the steps behind their house. He tried to keep her alive, but he couldn t save his daughter.
Janaria was pronounced dead at the hospital Feb. 16, the third of five teenagers to lose their lives to gun violence in Knoxville this year.
Nearly three months later, Janaria Muhammad s killing remains unsolved. So, too, does the March 9 shooting of 15-year-old Jamarion Gillette, who was found late that night by a passerby on the road leading to the University of Tennessee Medical Center. He died overnight from a still-unexplained gunshot wound.
Mayor Indya Kincannon said the city and KPD will withdraw from its agreement with the school system starting June 12, but officers will still respond to emergencies.
Austin-East students speak on how their school has changed since the death of Anthony Thompson Jr.
For students like Jones, Austin-East has changed. Now they walk through metal detectors and are searched as they walk in. Author: Jacinta Render (WBIR) Updated: 6:49 PM EDT April 29, 2021
KNOXVILLE, Tenn. Christopher Jones is a junior at Austin-East High School. Ever since the death of Anthony Thompson Jr., he s been coming to Safe Haven’s empowerment house.
“I started coming because I heard it was a good program,” said Jones.
And safety is his main concern.
“Because it helps me feel safer around the people.”
Expert says East Knoxville community facing not just trauma, but Black trauma You aren’t safe at home, you aren’t safe down the block and you aren’t safe leaving school, said Roxy Slay. It s a reality for many people in the community. Author: Malik Jackson Updated: 10:23 PM EDT April 22, 2021
KNOXVILLE, Tenn. With the East Knoxville community still reeling after a shooting in Austin East High School, experts are sounding the alarm on just how hard much these tragedies can impact people who face them day-in and day-out. For them, violence so close to home can simply be a part of reality.