NASHVILLE (MNPD) – Undercover detectives and an MNPD helicopter teamed together Wednesday night to apprehend Jeffery L. Thorpe, 24, who is named in a grand jury indictment charging him with reckless homicide and felony child neglect.
The charges stem from the fatal shooting of Thorpe’s two-year-old son on November 1, 2021. Anthony Thorpe died on November 6, 2021.
The investigation, led by Youth Services Detective John Grubbs, shows that Jeffery Thorpe arrived home on the night of November 1, placed a pistol on a bed on which the child and his mother were sitting, and proceeded to take a shower. The child began handling the gun and shot himself in the head. The parents rushed Anthony to a local hospital in their vehicle. The mother stayed with her son. Jeffery Thorpe fled.
On Wednesday, the East Precinct’s Community Field Intelligence Team received information that Thorpe was in the East Nashville area. He was spotted as a passenger in a vehicle, which refused to stop for police. One of the department’s helicopters monitored the car and watched as Thorpe got out. He was taken into custody in the area of Jones Circle after a short foot pursuit.
Thorpe is also facing charges of aggravated assault in which his girlfriend (the child’s mother) is the victim, as well as theft, resisting arrest, and trespassing counts. He remains jailed in the Downtown Detention Center.
