Brief hearing for man accused in death of Memphis officer

Memphis police officer Sean Bolton was remembered Thursday as a man of compassion but “bold as a lion” when it came to the community he swore to protect.

It started as a regular traffic stop on a weekend night in Tennessee.

Wearing starched uniforms and their badges marked with black tape to honor one of their own, police from as far as New York have said their goodbyes to Memphis Officer Sean Bolton. Police have said Wilbourn got out of the auto, confronted Bolton, and they got into a physical struggle.

Watkins said her brother described the officer putting Wilbourn in a hold and telling him to put his arms up.

Police say Bolton was shot Saturday after interrupting a drug deal. “A digital scale and a small baggie of marijuana… were located inside of the vehicle”.

Callie Watkins, 28, claims that before her brother, Tremaine Wilbourn, turned himself in to police, he told her his version of events.

Last Saturday, while checking an illegally parked 2002 Mercedes-Benz on a residential street in Parkway Village, Bolton was shot multiple times and later died from the wounds at the hospital.

Visitation for Officer Sean Bolton, a Marine who served in Iraq, is scheduled for Wednesday evening.

A first-degree murder warrant had been issued for Wilbourn who was suspected of being the passenger in the auto.

Shelby County court records posted online show Wilbourn has been officially charged in the shooting and was being held on $9 million bond.

Armstrong’s words garnered a standing ovation from the officer’s who filled the lower half of the Cordova church that seats 6,500.

A so-called “Sea of Blue” procession of police officers will ride through parts of the city, including the shooting scene, after the memorial.

Memphis police spokeswoman Karen Rudolph said that she did not want to “entertain that comment” and that the evidence in the case will speak for itself. He was sentenced to more than 10 years in federal prison and released on probation in July 2014. He was ordered to undergo mental health treatment July 7, according to federal court documents released Monday.

It’s not clear whether Wilbourn was ever evaluated, but his sister said her brother was troubled because he “lived in a box” for so long.

“We all have our relationship with God, and so I talked to God and asked him, ‘Why me, God?’ What are you trying to tell me?'”.

Ryan scheduled his next hearing for August 12.