A Middle Tennessee family grieves after their loved one was shot and killed in a South Nashville parking lot.
NASHVILLE, Tenn. (WKRN) — A Middle Tennessee family grieves after their loved one was shot and killed in a South Nashville parking lot.
That was the third shooting at the same shopping center within one year. Raybon “Ray Ray” Porter, 25, was shot in the parking lot of Illuzion Bar and Lounge on Murfreesboro Pike Sunday.
In October, two months after the Illuzion Lounge opened, three people were injured in a shootout outside the venue, leaving neighbors on high alert. Then, in March, a security guard for the lounge was shot and killed after he encountered car burglars.
Just after 2:40 in the morning on Sunday, police said that Porter was in the parking lot talking to a friend when at least two vehicles pulled into the lot and began shooting. Porter was shot in the back and died. Porter’s aunt, Shanae McFerrin, said she held on to hope as he was rushed to the hospital.
“I just knew that he was going to be okay,” Shanae McFerrin said. “I was just like, I want to be here for when he wakes up. Those were my thoughts. And you know, to get the devastating news from the doctor literally broke me, broke my sister. We are all broken.”
Metro Police told News 2 that Porter had likely gotten caught in the crossfire.
“One thing I have always said is: bullets don’t have eyes,” McFerrin expressed. “He was doing once again something that he loved — talking to his friends in the car. I am sure he was laughing and cracking some kind of joke, totally unaware of what was going to happen. We are all shocked.”
McFerrin said Porter was a light and an encourager to all. Porter used his Facebook daily to encourage people to make the most out of every day. In his absence on Facebook, friends have shared their support for the grieving family on Facebook, with some posts gaining over 200 shares.
“Everybody is sharing their favorite memories or their favorite times together,” McFerrin said. “Everybody has genuinely been hurt by Ray Ray no longer being here.”
Porter leaves behind his one-year-old son Rayden, whose birthday was just celebrated.
“We are just going to also let Rayden know that his dad loved him,” McFerrin said.
McFerrin went on to say the shootings need to stop.
“My nephew was only 25,” McFerrin expressed. “There is no reason that 25-year-olds, to me kids, cannot go out without feeling like I don’t know if I am going to make it home.”
“Everyone cherish your family because you never know when they are no longer going to be here,” McFerrin concluded. “Make those memories.”
Metro police are still looking for the shooter(s). If you have any information, call 615-74-CRIME.
News 2 also contacted the lounge for comment. As of publication, News 2 has not received a response.