A Nashville woman is facing charges in connection with the shooting death of a man at the Overlook Ridge Apartments in Bordeaux on Saturday afternoon. The Metro Nashville Police Department has reported that 28-year-old Gerrika Abernathy has been charged with murder following the death of 34-year-old Marques Douglas.
Police officers responded to Abernathy’s 911 call at 12:17 p.m. on Saturday and found Douglas suffering from a gunshot wound to the head. Despite being transported to Vanderbilt Medical Center, he was pronounced dead shortly after arrival.
The Homicide Unit of the Metro Nashville Police Department conducted an investigation into the incident. According to their findings, Douglas had been staying intermittently at Abernathy’s Overlook Ridge apartment. Abernathy had instructed him to come and gather his belongings on the day of the incident.
During the course of the investigation, Abernathy claimed that Douglas arrived at her apartment and got into a fight with her. During this altercation, he allegedly punched her in the head. Douglas then retreated to a bedroom and closed the door. However, officers found no visible injuries on Abernathy to support her claim of being punched.
Detectives established that Abernathy fired a single shot through the bedroom door from the top of the stairs, striking Douglas in the head. The police report states that Douglas posed no immediate threat to Abernathy at the time of the shooting. Furthermore, she had the opportunity to walk down the stairs and leave the premises instead of resorting to violence.
Abernathy maintained that she had fired the gun only in an attempt to scare Douglas, not intending to shoot him.