Inset: Tanieka Ray (Shelby County Sheriff’s Office). Background: The area in Memphis where Tanieka Ray allegedly ran over her ex-boyfriend multiple times with her SUV (Google Maps).
According to reports from local CBS affiliate WREG, the confrontation took place after Ray’s ex-boyfriend slipped and fell in a neighbor’s yard, making him a vulnerable target for the repeated vehicular assault. The situation unfolded in a residential area on the 500 block of Gilleas Road at around 11:30 a.m. on Saturday.
The victim was discovered by a neighbor, who found him leaning against a fence after the alleged attack. The neighbor quickly moved him onto his porch and called for emergency assistance. When police arrived at the scene, they found the man in critical condition, and he was promptly taken to the hospital for treatment.
Witness accounts, as reported by WREG, describe a chaotic scene. The neighbor reported hearing a disturbance outside and observed Ray maneuvering her SUV in the street while loudly confronting the man on the ground. Allegedly, she was making threatening statements, including intentions to run him over again and expressing a desire to kill him.
The neighbor called police and officers responded to find the injured victim. He was hospitalized and listed as being in critical condition.
Police spoke to the neighbor and were told that he heard a commotion outside his home and looked out to see Ray in her SUV on the street, WREG reports. She allegedly started making U-turns while yelling at a man who was on the ground. He claimed to hear her telling the man that she was going to run him over again and was going to kill him.
The victim later gave a statement saying Ray allegedly hit him with the vehicle and then ran him over three to four times after he slipped and fell in his neighbor’s yard while trying to get away from her. The neighbor said that after running him over, she saw Ray speed off and strike a utility pole a few houses down from his residence with her vehicle.
After the crash, Ray allegedly got out and took off running. She was later found in south Memphis at a home on the 700 block of East Davant Avenue. The neighbor identified her in a six-person lineup, according to police.
Ray’s ex suffered multiple broken bones and a number of dislocated body parts requiring surgery as a result of the crash, WREG reports. Ray was being held over the weekend on the attempted murder charge.
