Media

Sheriff’s Office Detectives Continue Their Search For Killers Of Car-jacking Victim

Release Date: March 30, 2004

Shelby County Sheriff’s Office Detectives continue their search today for three men believed to be responsible for last night’s car-jacking outside the Dollar General Store at 7110 East Shelby Drive near Riverdale.

Dexter Birge, 28, of Memphis, was killed as he left the store at 6:45 last night. Witnesses said three men approached Birge as he got into his GMC Denali sport utility vehicle.

Investigators say Birge fought with his attackers and was shot several times. He then stumbled back into the store, collapsed near a cash register and died shortly after an ambulance arrived.

Detectives say two of the suspects ran from the scene and the other man drove away in Birge’s SUV. Investigators then contacted the “OnStar” vehicle tracking company and found that Birge used the security service. “OnStar” employees located the SUV behind a house in Fayette County, about 25 miles from where the car-jacking happened.

The vehicle was parked behind a house in the 2500 block of Bobbit Road. Investigators say the SUV was partially disassembled. Detectives also found another vehicle they believe was taken in a car-jacking in south-east Memphis this past Sunday. No one was hurt in that incident.

Here are pictures of the victim’s car from last night’s tragic event at 7710 East Shelby Drive. The right front wheel had been removed at the time when the vehicle was recovered.

• carjack 1 (high resolution JPG image)
• carjack 2 (high resolution JPG image)

Also, we now have descriptions of two of three suspects wanted in connection with this case:

• African American male, mid 20s, 5’7, 160 lbs, short afro hair style
• African American male, mid 20s, 6’1, 150 lbs, short hair style

We don’t have a description of the 3rd person…witnesses could not make out any description. We’ll pass along more information as we get it.

Anyone with information about last night’s murder is asked to call Crime Stoppers at (901) 528-CASH (2274) or the Shelby County Sheriff’s Office Detective Division at (901) 545-5600.