The 2013 gold Chrysler 200 sedan that John Drake Jr. crashed in the 1400 block of Villa Place Tuesday night was taken in a carjacking at 6 p.m. Tuesday from a residence in the 100 block of Antioch Pike.
Drake Jr. came from the rear of a duplex and approached a man in the front yard. He asked the man for a ride. The man replied that he did not drive. Drake Jr. then walked over to the neighbor who was sitting in her Chrysler 200. He opened the car door and asked the 23-year-old woman for a ride. She declined, saying she was low on gas. She said Drake Jr. then then took a step back, pulled a pistol and ordered her out of the car. Drake Jr. got in and drove away toward Nolensville Pike.
An MNPD investigator spotted the car later on Thompson Place at Patricia Drive. Officers on the ground attempted to stop the Chrysler as an MNPD helicopter flew into the area and monitored the car’s movements. The helicopter crew saw Drake Jr. crash into the rear of a parked vehicle on Villa Place at 8:01 p.m., and then run through yards before stopping in the back yard of a home in the 1400 block of 15th Avenue South. He hid in a shed behind the residence. Officers who had set up a perimeter around the property reported hearing a single shot come from the direction of the shed at 8:18 p.m. Drake Jr. was subsequently found deceased in the shed.