MEMPHIS, TN – Memphis police say a man is accused of strangling his girlfriend and then leaving her body in the front yard of her home.
According to a police affidavit, the body of 28-year-old Ivory R. Calhoun was found in the front yard of a home in the 3300 block of Flower Valley, Friday, October 8, 2009, around 8:00 a.m. Investigators say Calhoun’s roommate found the body and called police.
The roommate told police Calhoun’s boyfriend, 30-year-old Leo M. Johnson, picked up Calhoun around 7:00 p.m. the night before. Police say the two went to the Highland Creek Apartments where they started fighting.
The police document states the roommate told investigators Calhoun had called her around 9:30 p.m. asking to be picked up at the complex. She says Calhoun had a torn jacket and told her about the fight. According to the roommate, Calhoun said that Johnson jumped on her, pulled a gun, pointed it at her head and at some point fired the weapon.
The two women drove back to their home where Calhoun changed her clothes, according to the affidavit. The roommate told investigators she last saw Calhoun alive inside the house around 11:45 p.m.
Police say another person who was inside the home heard a knock on the door around midnight on Friday. A neighbor, according to the affidavit, told investigators he saw a car, matching the description of Johnson’s vehicle, parked in front of Calhoun’s home around 5:00 a.m.
Around 11:20 a.m., police say Johnson went to the Homicide Bureau and told investigators that he and Calhoun had an argument, and only an argument, at the apartment complex and hadn’t seen her since she left with security guards at the apartment.
According to the police document, detectives noticed Johnson had scratches on his right arm, the right side of his neck and on his chest area.
Detectives say during the investigation, it was learned that Johnson had a live-in girlfriend at the Highland Creek Apartments.
Leo M. Johnson has been charged with First-Degree Murder in this case.
