Update: The deceased is identified as Emmanuel M. Easley, 30, of Nashville.
Detectives tonight are charging convicted felon Omari Moore, 30, with aggravated robbery and unlawful gun possession by a convicted felon in connection with this afternoon's robbery of a man who had just exited Green Hills Mall carrying shopping bags from a high-end retailer.
After the robbery, Moore fled the mall parking lot in a Tesla sedan driven by an accomplice. The car crashed into a tree off the I-65 north entrance ramp from I-440. The driver of the Tesla, a 30-year-old Nashville man, was found to have been shot. He was rushed to Vanderbilt University Medical Center where he died. Efforts are underway to notify his next of kin.
The investigation to this point shows that the still unidentified mall shopper, carrying Louis Vuitton bags, was heading to his vehicle in the parking lot when he was spotted by Moore and his accomplice. Moore got out of the car and appeared to be carrying a pistol with an extended magazine. He and the shopper engaged in a scuffle during which Moore wrestled away the shopping bags. Moore ran back to the Tesla and got into the passenger seat. The shopper chased after the car as it began to pull off and appeared to throw the extended gun magazine at the car. That magazine and two spent shell casings were recovered by police from the parking lot.
A short time later, the driver of the Tesla lost control and crashed into a tree off the I-65 north entrance ramp from I-440. Moore got out of the car after the crash and approached a nearby guardrail. A semi-automatic pistol missing a magazine was recovered on the other side of the guardrail.
Moore claimed he did not know when the driver was shot or how it happened. He also refused to say where they were prior to the crash.
The circumstances of how the driver was fatally shot remain under investigation. Detectives are also working to identify the victim of the robbery. He left the Green Hills Mall parking lot prior to police arriving. Detectives are asking that he come forward to be interviewed.
Omari Moore was convicted in Nashville of burglary and felony theft in 2022 and received a two-year sentence. He also has convictions for felony theft and evading arrest in Henderson County.
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Omari Moore, 30