A surviving 19-year-old remained critically injured as the Tennessee Highway Patrol continued investigating the deadly Hickory Hill collision.
MEMPHIS, Tenn. — Five young people were killed and three others were injured when a Memphis Police Department cruiser responding to a reported shooting collided with another car early Sunday at a Hickory Hill intersection, authorities said.
The crash occurred about 12:26 a.m. Oct. 11 at Hickory Hill Road and East Raines Road. Memphis police said two officers were traveling toward a call near Flowering Peach Drive and Mendenhall Road involving a person who had reportedly been shot when their cruiser collided with a car carrying six people. Four occupants of that car died at the scene, and a fifth died later at a hospital. The sixth occupant was hospitalized in critical condition. Both police officers were also taken to a hospital and were later released.
The Tennessee Highway Patrol, which is leading the investigation because a Memphis police vehicle was involved, has identified four of those killed as Rodney McNeal Jr., 20; Carlesha Fifer, 19; Syria Fifer, 21; and Messiah Lee, 20. The fifth person killed was a 17-year-old girl whose family has asked that her name and photograph not be made public. Authorities have not announced a final determination of what caused the collision.
A preliminary account obtained by local media said the police cruiser was traveling west on East Raines Road while the other vehicle, identified as a 2026 Toyota Corolla, was traveling south on Hickory Hill Road. The preliminary information said the cruiser struck the driver’s side of the Corolla as the vehicles entered the intersection. The Highway Patrol has not publicly determined how fast either vehicle was traveling or assigned responsibility for the crash.
Surveillance video obtained by Action News 5 shows the police cruiser approaching the intersection with its emergency lights activated. The station reported that the cruiser had a green traffic signal and the Corolla faced a red signal. Those details have not been announced as a final investigative finding by the Highway Patrol, which continues to examine the circumstances surrounding the crash.
The only surviving occupant of the Corolla was identified by his father as 19-year-old Laterrius Mathis Jr. His father told WREG that Mathis suffered a brain injury and a broken leg and underwent surgeries after the crash. He remained hospitalized in critical condition in the latest reports. The Highway Patrol has identified him as the 19-year-old who survived the collision but has not publicly released a final crash report explaining the sequence of events.
Family members and friends gathered at the intersection in the days after the crash, creating a memorial and holding vigils for the five people who died. Carlesha Fifer and Syria Fifer were cousins, relatives said. Friends and relatives also remembered McNeal for his humor and upbeat personality. Cory Robinson, a former coach who knew McNeal, told Action News 5 that he was often smiling and could make other people laugh.
Memphis Mayor Paul Young expressed condolences after the crash, saying the deaths had left the families of those involved facing “unimaginable grief.” The mayor asked the community to keep the families in its thoughts as they dealt with the loss. At a Tuesday vigil, relatives urged people not to reach their own conclusions about the collision while investigators were still working to determine what happened.
The officers had been responding to a call that police said involved a person who had reportedly been shot near Flowering Peach Drive and Mendenhall Road. Police later found a man with a gunshot wound in that area, and he was pronounced dead. Authorities have not said that the shooting itself played any role in the traffic collision beyond prompting the officers’ response.
The Tennessee Highway Patrol investigation remained active Thursday. Investigators had not publicly announced the speeds of the two vehicles, released a final finding on the cause of the crash or said whether any traffic or departmental violations contributed to it. The two Memphis officers have been released from the hospital, while Mathis remained in critical condition in the latest public update.
Author note: Last updated October 15, 2026.