On Tuesday (Jan. 10), detectives in South Memphis, Tennessee, discovered a body in the parking lot behind a boarded up church. The victim had reportedly suffered a gunshot wound and was pronounced dead on the scene.
According to a local CBS affiliate, a witness, who did not want to be named, reported seeing the body burning in the parking lot as he drove by to visit family in the area. Police, who received a “man down” call just before 7 a.m. Tuesday, have not confirmed whether the body was burned.
Police later identified the victim as being 27-year-old Larry Thorn, a Memphis-Shelby County School District secretary.
Lovanda Henderson, Thorn’s mother, told WMC that Thorn disappeared on Monday night around 11 p.m. and did not report to work Tuesday morning.
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“Which is very unlike him not to show up for work, so immediately, when we found out he had been missing, we went ahead and called the police,” Henderson, who is now mourning the loss of her eldest son, explained.
Addressing Thorn’s killer, Henderson said in an interview with FOX13, “I wish that they would just come forward. Because, nobody deserves to bury their child and, you know, if it was a mistake then just come forward and let us know because we’re hurting inside. He had two other brothers and a grandmother who loved him dearly.”
“He was a very friendly, outgoing person that loved kids. He loved music; he loved church. He was just a real outgoing person,” Henderson said of her son. “Whatever he did, or what was going on, I don’t feel like he deserved to have gotten the treatment that he got.”
Thorn’s brother, Kevon, said, “To hear that he’s gone, I still haven’t processed in my head. It seems unreal to me.”
Thorn’s friend, Justin J. Pearson, expressed, “Our entire class of 2013 of Mitchell High School is mourning and grieving alongside his family.”
